The Undetermined Fates
by wingman11
Summary: Original idea/Pt1&2 belong to Terminatress. Ash is forced to part with his friends when there is a lack of interest in Gyms. But when Ash finds an odd Eevee, strange things start happening. What will happen when two undetermined fates collide? -SUSPENDED-
1. Sad Farewells and Eerie Encounters

Author Note: First, a general disclaimer. I don't own Pokemon. If I did, this wouldn't be here. It would be on a storyboard making it's way to being a movie.

Second, the original idea for this story was created by Terminatress, and the first two chapters where made by him/her. The story was never finished, so I decided to make my own ending for it. All I did to Pt 1 and 2 were give part one a name and spell check them. There is also a small plot change in the second part. The rest is mine. Hope you enjoy it!

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Part One – Sad Farewells and Eerie Encounters

"Are you sure that you guys have to leave?" asked a black haired boy to his old friends.

"You know we have to," said Misty. Ash's face faulted.

"Every Pokemon gym is in trouble with the lack of interest in the Gym Challenge lately. You'll be fine if you keep going on like you have been, Ash. You just call me if you ever need cooking instructions for Pikachu ok?" said Brock to Ash.

"I will. I doubt I'll need to phone you though; I have been cooking for us for the last three months and I had a good teacher," said Ash.

"Well, y'know we'll always be in touch. See ya Ketchum!" shouted Misty over her shoulder as she walked over to catch her train.

"I've got to go too Ash," said Brock heading in another direction. He was boarding his train for home too.

"Guess it's just me and you Pikachu," Ash said to the electric mouse Pokemon on his official Pokemon League hat.

"Pika!" was the Pokemon's reply. Then the lone Pokemon trainer and Pokemon left the train station headed for the next town for the next badge.

'It won't last that long,' Ash thought optimistically as he headed down the dirt road. 'Their gyms will pick up popularity in no time with those two home. In a while they'll return with me on my adventures.'

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"I never realized how lonely it could get out here Pikachu," said Ash to his electric Pokemon. It was too silent for Ash's comfort. It seemed to him that Team Rocket had given up on trying to capture Ash's Pikachu for the last little while. He hadn't seen Jessie, James or Meowth for quite some time now.

"Pikachu?" said Pikachu all of a sudden. Ash's trail of thought was broken when he looked up to see an Eevee. It wasn't any normal Eevee. It was black as midnight and had emerald green eyes. It was staring at nothing and was lying there on the road. When Ash took a closer look, he could see that the Pokemon was in terrible condition.

"Eevee!" it cried as Ash picked up the limp Pokemon. Ash had taken off his jacket and put the small Eevee in a bundle.

"Don't worry. I'll get you to a Pokemon Center as fast as I can." At the mere mention of a Pokemon Center the Eevee began to struggle.

"Pikachu! Pika!" Pikachu ordered the Pokemon to lie still. "Pika CHU!" Or else. With that threat in mind, the Eevee stopped struggling and began to shiver in Ash's arms.

"Eevee!" it begged. Ash looked down at the Pokemon he was carrying and wondered why it would be so afraid of a Pokemon Center. Ash took out his upgraded Dexter.

"Which way is the nearest Pokemon Center?" Ash demanded of his encyclopedia.

"Two miles ahead," was Dexter's answer.

"Come on Pikachu, we can be there before nightfall," said Ash.

"Pika," said Pikachu happily.

"Eevee! Eevee eve ve ev-ve!" shrieked the strange black Eevee before it finally collapsed. Along the road, Pikachu was paranoid of something following them. He looked over his shoulder, yet he saw nothing. Still, he had the feeling that they were being followed.

"We're here!" Ash panted. It had taken him two hours of solid running to reach the Pokemon Center. "Nurse Joy!" Ash yelled as he ran through the doors.

"What? May I help you young man?" said a strangely blue haired Nurse Joy. After recovering from the initial shock of seeing a unique Nurse Joy, Ash remembered about the Eevee.

"It's this Pokemon. I found it on the middle of the road beaten up pretty badly. I think its trainer abandoned it or something," Ash showed the Nurse Joy the pitch-black Eevee. To his surprise, the Nurse leapt back in horror.

"It's one of the escaped Pokemon!" Nurse Joy suddenly shrieked. She took the bundle from Ash's hands and went into the ER Ash was immediately forgotten about for the moment and stood there dumbly.

"Pika!" Ash snapped out of his trance. He then looked down at his Pikachu.

"What does she mean 'one of the escaped Pokemon'?" Ash asked himself. He then proceeded to sit down outside of the emergency room and waited.

"Pika pika-chu?" asked the little yellow mouse.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, but I can't help but wonder what's going on? Why did Nurse Joy act like that?" It didn't make any sense to Ash. In all his travels, not once did a Nurse Joy seem to lose it like that. It was almost as if she was afraid of the Pokemon.

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ONE HOUR LATER.....

The doors flew open to reveal a very panicked Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy?" Ash asked. "Did everything go ok? What's wrong?" Before he could get out another question, Nurse Joy had rushed past him anime style.

"Pika-chu?" said Pikachu. It was just as confused as his trainer was. Then the duo looked at the open doors she had left open.

"Couldn't hurt to see Eevee now," Ash said to Pikachu. They both quietly entered the room.

On a bed slept the Eevee Ash had saved. There was something wrong with this otherwise normal picture. The Eevee was tied down in straps so it couldn't move.

"Pika!" Pikachu whispered. The Pokemon didn't like the idea of a fellow Pokemon being strapped down like that.

"I know Pikachu. I don't like this either."

Just then the Eevee had woken up and was trembling from head to toe. Seeing that there was something definitely wrong here, Ash decided to do something about it.

"PIKACHU!" The little Pikachu couldn't believe what it was seeing! Ash was undoing Nurse Joy's straps. "Pika pikachu-chu PIKA!" it begged, trying to stop Ash from untying the dark Pokemon.

"Stop it Pikachu. You wouldn't like it either if someone tied you up. It's my fault for bringing the Pokemon here so I'll be the one to untie Eevee."

"Eevee?" said the midnight black Pokemon as soon as it was free. It looked up at Ash with questioning eyes.

"I don't know what kind of trouble you're in but, we're going to try and help you. Do you understand?" Ash said to the Pokemon. The Eevee stared up at Ash with its emerald green eyes and began to cry.

"Pika?" asked Pikachu as it looked up at his trainer. It gave Ash a do-something look and began to push him toward the Pokemon.

"It's ok. Everything will be ok. Your safe now," Ash whispered as he picked up the shivering Pokemon.

"Eevee, eevee, eve ev ve eevee," it whispered to Ash. Then fell fast asleep in Ash's arms. Ash carried the Pokemon out of the emergency ward to find some answers from Nurse Joy.

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"I'm telling you that the Pokemon is right here in my Pokemon Center!" shouted the Nurse Joy into the radio. There was a crackled response.

"Keep it under. We'll be right there to pick it up. Have you seen the rest of the group?" asked a familiar voice. Ash recognized it as Officer Jenny.

"No, thankfully there was this boy that brought the Eevee in. OH! I forgot all about the boy. He must have left while I was in the ER." Ash crept a little closer to hear the conversation when the lights went out.

"Pika!" whispered Pikachu. It was very dark and very eerie inside the Pokemon Center. Just then the young trainer and his Pokemon heard the door of the Pokemon Center open.

"No! They're here!" gasped a very scared Nurse Joy. She then proceeded to run to the ER to find that the Eevee was missing. Ash of course followed her to the ER to see what exactly was going on.

"Nurse Joy?" Ash asked. The nurse then proceeded to let out the most horrifying shriek he had heard in his entire lifetime. It was worse than Misty's I SAW A BUG scream.

"Who are you?!" she demanded after she realized Ash was human.

"I'm Ash. I was the one that brought in the Eevee. Remember?" Ash was carefully inspected in the dark to see if he was telling the truth.

"You had better leave right now! There's a dangerous Pokemon on the loose. The leader of an escaped band of mutated Pokemon got loose and I think the group is here for their leader."

This news shocked Ash to no end. "You mean Eevee?" Ash asked incredulously. "Eevee's been with me the whole time. See?" Ash held up the Pokemon for Nurse Joy to see.

"YOU UNTIED THAT MONSTER?!" she literally screamed. "You had better give that Pokemon to me right now! You obviously don't know what you're doing."

That got Ash mad. No one was going to call the Eevee he had rescued a monster or him an idiot.

"HEY! No Pokemon is a monster. Only bad trainers and cruel masters are monsters," retorted Ash. "This Pokemon is my friend. I only wanted to get it healed and ask if you knew who the previous trainer was, but by the way your acting toward it I don't think I want to know anymore." Ash was too angry to think. He had bolted down the hall.

"Where are you going?! Get back here! You have no idea what you just got yourself into!"

Ash had turned and ran out the front door to find nothing but the night to welcome him.

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"You know Pikachu, I think we finally outlasted Team Rocket. Right about now is when they usually show up and make trouble," said Ash to his Pikachu friend. It had been another night camping out on the ground and his new Pokemon, Eevee, was silently following Ash. It turned out that Eevee had an extreme fear of being inside of a Pokeball.

"Pikachu!" agreed Pikachu. It was strange that they hadn't seen Team Rocket in a long time and it was a welcomed peace. Ash turned back to see Eevee lost in thought. It didn't look too happy so Ash decided to do something about it.

"So, Eevee. Do you have a nickname I can call you by or do you prefer to be called Eevee?" Ash suddenly asked.

That broke Eevee out of its thoughts. "Eevee," it said dejectedly.

"Pikachu?" asked Pikachu. He was tired of Eevee being so sad too. "Pika pikachu pika-chu pikachu pika?" asked Pikachu.

Whatever Pikachu asked was quite a shock to Eevee. It looked at Ash and then back to Pikachu with whirling green eyes.

"Eevee?" it asked. Pikachu nodded to the confused Pokemon. With that, Eevee leapt into Ash's arms and began to cry.

"Whoa! What did you say to it Pikachu?" asked Ash.

"Pika." Pikachu smiled and cocked its head to the right. It surprised the Pokemon as well as the trainer. Obviously Pikachu had said something that was important to Eevee.

"Eevee eve ev ve eve!" was all his Eevee would say. Ash carried the pitch-black Pokemon for the next length of the journey. Soon Ash had set up camp.

"I don't know what Eevee's like to eat. I'm going to phone Brock at the next Pokemon Center so you'll just have to choke down some of Pikachu's mix. That alright?" Eevee looked up at Ash while it's mouth was dripping drool in the anime way. A sweat drop formed behind Ash's head.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu objected. There was no way he was going to share his meals with anyone!

"Don't worry Pikachu, I'll make plenty for you and... I just realized, we still need to give you a nickname. We forgot to give you one earlier," Ash said happily.

"Eevee?" The Eevee was quite confused. Why did it need a new name? It was alright with just Eevee.

"Let's see. A new name for a Pokemon starting over…" Ash began to dash around furiously over the fire thinking of a new name. "I know! I'll list off names and when I say one you like you can interrupt me."

"Eevee!" said the black Pokemon.

"Midnight? Emerald? Night? Inferno? Happy? Mysterious? Unique?" Eevee stuck out his tongue at all the names.

"How about Lucky? It was lucky I found you when I did and even luckier that we're together now."

"Eevee!"

"Lucky it is then. Welcome to the group. I only have a few Pokemon with me right now but you can meet them. Come on out guys! Foods on!" With that all of Ash's Pokemon were released.

"Cynd!"

"Chika!"

"Squirtle!"

"Eevee?" Lucky was staring at the Pokemon he saw before him. He only had a few Pokemon with him? Where were the rest of them?

"Eevee, you already knew Pikachu. Meet Squirtle, Cyndaquil and Chikorita. All my other Pokemon are at Professor Oak's."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu got out his feeding bowl and nudged Ash.

"Oh! Right! Let's eat!" Ash said before he began to pig out on his sandwiches and trail mix. Pikachu and the rest of the Pokemon began to eat in their own group like normal.

"Pika!" said Pikachu to Eevee. Pikachu welcomed him to the group and began to pat the ground beside Eevee, who, not too sure of the food in front of him, moved the bowl to Pikachu's side and asked Pikachu a question.

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Begin Translation

"What is Ash?" Lucky asked Pikachu. Pikachu choked on a bite of pokefood.

"What do you mean 'what is Ash?' He's a Pokemon trainer! Don't you know what a Pokemon trainer is?" Pikachu said incredulously. Pikachu couldn't believe that there was a Pokemon out there that wouldn't know what a Pokemon trainer is.

"Of course I know what a Pokemon trainer is! I'm not brain-dead you know! I wanted to know what kind of trainer he is," snapped Lucky.

"He's one of the best," interrupted Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil lifted an eyebrow. "The question should be are you worthy to be one of his Pokemon or not?"

"What do you mean by that?" Lucky growled.

"What he means is are you strong enough to be one of his Pokemon. Things are going to be a little more tough with Brock and Misty gone," interrupted Squirtle.

"Who are Brock and Misty?" Lucky asked to Pikachu.

"They were the humans that Ash traveled with but now he's on his own. Squirtle is right when he says that things are going to be a little bit tougher around here," said Pikachu through gulps of his pokechow.

"Especially if Team Rocket comes back," said Chikorita. That got Lucky's attention.

"WHAT?! Team Rocket!" Lucky did a back flip and landed three feet from where he was previously.

"Calm down. Those idiots are more a nuisance than trouble anyway," said Pikachu.

"What ties do you have with Team Rocket?!" demanded Lucky.

"None. Other than them trying to steal Pikachu all the time since he's a rare Pokemon," said Cyndaquil.

"Oh stop! Your embarrassing me," said Pikachu. "I'm really not that rare."

"Is that true? If I stay with Ash I might be able to kick some Rocket butt?" asked Lucky to them all. When they all nodded Lucky did another back flip and gave a whoop of joy. Before Lucky touched the ground a pair of hands grabbed him in mid air.

"Calm down. Boy! You think you would have just won the Orange League with me." Ash put Lucky back down in front of his new bowl. "Eat up. You'll need it for tomorrow. I don't plan on carrying you the whole way to the next town," Ash then put his attention back to his meal. Lucky stared at him with big green eyes.

"Is that true? Did he really win eight badges and win a league competition?" Lucky asked all the Pokemon present.

When everyone nodded their head Lucky couldn't believe his ears.

"Remember Charizard?" asked Squirtle. Pikachu rolled his eyes.

"Like we could ever forget that brute," said Pikachu.

"I wonder if Ash will ever meet up with him again? He was stubborn," laughed Squirtle.

"What do you mean?" asked Lucky. All the Pokemon looked at him and smiled. Pikachu was voted to tell the story since he was the starter Pokemon.

"At the very beginning of his journeys Ash met up with a Charmander. After a** long** time, Ash helped Charmander to evolve into a Charmeleon and then a Charizard. By the time he was a Charizard, he wouldn't listen to Ash anymore. A while passed before Charizard would listen to orders. We were passing through a place called Charizard Valley and Charizard wanted to stay. Ash released him and we went on with our journey ." That got Lucky's attention again.

"You mean he would release me if I wanted to go?" asked Lucky.

"Yes. He doesn't force Pokemon to stay with him. That's why he's such a great trainer. He cares for his Pokemon. You were really quite lucky to find him you know," said Cyndaquil.

'Why didn't I find him earlier?' thought Lucky bitterly. With that thought in mind, the Eevee took a big bite of Pokechow unconsciously.

"Whoa! I really should have found him sooner. This stuff is great!" said Lucky after he had wolfed down his food.

"The way you eat makes me think Snorlax was a polite dinner companion," laughed Pikachu. All the Pokemon laughed at that statement of the obvious, including Lucky. That got Squirtle wondering something.

"Hey Lucky. What were you doing before you met Ash? You were pretty beat up or so I'm told." With the question asked, Lucky went silent.

"I-I I can't tell you that," said Lucky sadly.

"Why not?" asked Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Squirtle together. Before Lucky could say why, Pikachu interrupted.

"He'll tell us when he's ready. Don't worry about it," Pikachu said defiantly.

"Heh! Don't sweat it. But I bet you were abandoned like me. I don't really remember who my trainer was before Ash, but I do remember that he was not a very good Pokemon trainer," said Squirtle.

"Naaa. I bet he just got attacked by some wild Pokemon and collapsed on the road trying to get back to his den. Ash just got lucky again," said Cyndaquil.

"Just because he caught you out from the wild doesn't mean that's how he gets all his Pokemon," Squirtle retorted. A bit of an Oh yeah?! Yeah! argument broke out between the fire and water Pokemon. You know how that goes.

"It's nothing like that at all," Lucky mumbled. "I wasn't so lucky to be abandoned or caught in the wild." Lucky was on the verge of tears when he heard a familiar voice calling to him.

"Lucky, Pikachu, Squirtle, Cyndaquil, Chikorita! Come here!" Ash called to his Pokemon. The Pokemon then proceeded to pick up their bowls and ran toward their trainer's voice. Lucky saw what the Pokemon were doing and followed suite.

'No I wasn't lucky at all,' thought Lucky suddenly. Then a flood of images invaded the Eevee's mind. The pain, the torture, the suffering and the loneliness came back all to fast for Lucky. When he reached Ash the Eevee literally threw himself into Ash's arms and gave Ash a big hug. 'Don't ever leave me,' Lucky thought.

End Translation

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"What was that for?" Ash asked as soon as their embrace was broken. The Eevee just smiled and yawned.

*Yawn* "Hey, don't do that. Don't you know yawns are contagious?" Ash joked. Then he looked at the sky.

"Pikachu," Pikachu said and pointed to Ash's pack. Ash knew it was time for bed.

"Alright Pikachu. I'll set up camp while you see to the fire." With that all the Pokemon there went into different directions looking for firewood. Lucky just stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Eevee?" Lucky asked and looked up at Ash. Ash smiled. He had a few things to teach Lucky about the routine that the group had.

"Go follow Pikachu and he'll give you some sticks to bring back to me. We usually have a fire at night before we go to sleep," Ash said and then gave Lucky a little push in Pikachu's direction.

"Eevee." Lucky had found Pikachu and explained what Ash had ordered it to do. Unknown to the pair they were being watched from the bushes. That would have been the normal thing happening if Team Rocket was around, but this time it wasn't Team Rocket and they weren't watching the Pikachu.

"Pika." Pikachu had given Lucky a big bundle of sticks and was looking for more. Pikachu then ordered Lucky to go back to camp with the sticks he already had. Along the way the watchers from the nearby bushes saw their chance and stepped out from the bushes in front of Lucky. Lucky couldn't see where it was going and crashed into the Pokemon with a 'thud!' When Lucky looked up to see what he had bumped into, he was greeted by a familiar fist in the face and was thrown to the base of a nearby tree.

End of Part One

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	2. Hardball

Author Note: I don't own Pokemon, obviously, and the original idea and Pt 1 and 2 belong to Terminatress. By the way, for those who have read Terminatress's original, I decided to add a little bit to Carol's character. Everything else is the same.

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Part Two - Hardball

Begin Translation

The Pokemon immediately recognized its attacker. The familiar fist had come from a green Sandshrew that had a pink flower mounted on its head: X-5. Behind X-5 were X-2, X-3, X-4 and X-6: an Oddish with red leaves, a Growlithe with blue fur, a purple Clefairy that had two sets of wings and a white Dratini that had blue eyes.

"Where have you been?" growled the Sandshrew.

"We've been looking all over for you and we find you carrying wood. What have you been doing X-1?" demanded the Dratini. Lucky stood up and growled.

"WHERE HAVE I BEEN?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! The scientists attacked me at our meeting point. YOU were never there! You abandoned me! I was lucky to escape with my life." Lucky began to tear up at the memories. The feelings of betrayal, the pain, the suffering had returned to his mind.

"We were unable to come," said the reddish Oddish. "But we did try to rescue you from the Pokemon Center."

"I didn't need your rescuing," retorted Lucky. "You left me to rot on the road."

"The bag broke and we almost didn't save the eggs," interrupted the Growlithe. Lucky was shocked; the eggs were the reason that they didn't come.

"We were on our way to meet you when the bag broke. The eggs dropped and rolled down a hill into the river. I had to jump in to save them," said the Dratini. Lucky gasped; Dratini didn't like the water and wouldn't go near any water, ever.

"You had to go off by yourself to save that lost kid, didn't you. If you had just listened to Sandshrew here, you wouldn't have had a problem. You should have left the kid where you found it," said the purple Clefairy.

"And let my conscience eat me alive? I don't think so. I led the kid out of the forest so that she could survive to see another day. That was more than anyone ever did for us," snapped Lucky.

"Even so, why do it? As you said, it was more than anyone ever did for us. Why help a human! They're nothing but scum X-1. You should know that better than anyone," said the Oddish.

Lucky was extremely angry now.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT NAME EVER AGAIN! I have a new name. I'm Lucky and not all humans are scum." With that said, the entire group of abnormal Pokemon gasped. This wasn't the attitude that they all knew X-1 to have.

"Lucky? What are you talking about X-1?" demanded the Sandshrew.

"I know what the problem is," snapped the Dratini. "It's that human, isn't it?"

"WHAT?! You mean X-1 has made friends with a human?!" screeched Sandshrew.

"Impossible! You couldn't have made a human friend. That's totally impossible. Tell me they're wrong. Tell them that they're wrong!" said the Clefairy in disbelief. The word human was spat out like a curse from all the Pokemon. Lucky was silent.

"Traitor!" yelled the Growlithe. "You betrayed us. A human! How could you after everything you've gone through."

"This human is different," said Lucky soberly.

"Lair! A human's still a human's still a human," growled the Dratini.

"He was there for me when you weren't! He saved me from a certain death and then rescued me from the scientists. He makes me feel important. He fed me, groomed me, and gave me a new name and a new life. I know he would do the same for you if you just met him." Before Lucky could get out another word, Sandshrew struck him across the face.

"They did something to you in that Pokemon Center. You' re not yourself. X-2, X-4 contain X-1 until we can figure out a way to help him," ordered X-5.

"Sorry about this." With that, a pair of red vines and a metronome attack trapped the angry Pokemon. Lucky began to struggle against his old comrades.

"No! let me go! I want to be with Ash," yelled Lucky. Just then a yellow Pikachu came from the branches above and gave all the Pokemon there a nice thunder attack; minus Lucky of course.

'So, X-1 wants to play hardball does it? Well that's fine with me!' thought the Sandshrew as it got up from the unexpected thunderbolt.

"Let's go!" yelled the Pikachu to the now freed Eevee. Lucky didn't have to be told twice.

"Where are we going?" asked Lucky running behind Pikachu.

"Back to camp to find Ash and the other Pokemon. They'll protect you," yelled Pikachu back to the Eevee. Lucky blinked for a minute.

'Why would they protect me? I've never done anything for them.' Lucky wondered. Before Lucky could explore the thought further, they were back at camp.

End Translation.

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"Pika!" Pikachu had suddenly come crashing out of the bushes with Lucky in tow. Ash turned to see Pikachu jumping into his arms and then onto his hat. Lucky followed by jumping into Ash's arms and then began to shiver violently.

"Hey! What's going on Pikachu? Why is Lucky so spooked?" Ash asked his Pokemon that was perched on his hat.

"Pika!" Pikachu said and pointed to the underbrush that they had just come out of. There, Ash saw one of the most amazing sights he had ever seen in all his years of training. There was a group of about five Pokemon there that looked like Eevee; they were all somehow different from their normal species. The Sandshrew had a flower on its head, the Dratini was white, the Clefairy was purple, the Growlithe had blue fur and the Oddish had red petals.

"Friends of yours?" Ash looked down at the shivering Pokemon. Lucky was not about to move from his trainers arms anytime soon.

"Pikachu!" came the battle cry from his electric Pokemon. Pikachu jumped in-between Ash and the five newly come Pokemon. On a signal from Pikachu, Ash released all his Pokemon from their Pokeballs.

The Sandshrew walked forward and pointed to Lucky.

"Sand shrew-sand," was all it said. It tensed at Pikachu's retort.

"Pikachu! Pika-chu pi!" Pikachu shook his head and turned to Ash. With that, the Sandshrew ran forward to attack Pikachu.

"Chika!" Chikorita had used razor leaf on the storming Pokemon and 'accidentally' got Pikachu as well. It didn't have the effect it should have had on the Sandshrew.

"PIKA!" Pikachu said angrily. Chikorita shrugged whatever Pikachu had said off and the groups got poised for battle.

"Shrew!" demanded the green Pokemon. The other four Pokemon were backing up Sandshrew.

"Pika!" said Pikachu again and shook his head. The other three Pokemon were backing up Pikachu.

"Pikachu what's going on?" asked it's confused trainer. Before anything else could be said, the fight broke out. It was Sandshrew and Clefairy against Pikachu, Growlithe against Cyndaquil, Dratini against Chikorita and Oddish against Squirtle.

"Pikachu, watch for Sandshrew's ground attacks!" yelled Ash. "Squirtle don't use any… what?"

The 'what' came from Ash's mouth when he saw the grass Pokemon use a fire attack. Ash then turned to see how the other Pokemon attacked. The Growlithe was using ice attacks, the Dratini was using ground attacks, and the Sandshrew and Clefairy were using attacks that were out of their element as well. Ash then noticed something else as well, even though they had different element attacks, their physical attacks were still the same.

"Pika!" Pikachu squealed as the rock and normal Pokemon began to gang up on it. Ash couldn't stand by and watch his beloved Pikachu get it's brain bashed out.

"Pikachu, don't waste energy in blocking their attacks. Use the dance routine we used against Team Rocket!" said Ash who was still clutching Lucky. Ash looked down at his Pokemon and back at the five other Pokemon that had attacked them and realized something; this was the group that nurse Joy was talking about.

"Pi!" Pikachu began to hop avoiding Sandshrew's scratch attack and Clefairy's double-slap attack. The two vexed Pokemon decided on a new strategy: circle and attack. Clefairy was in front of Pikachu while Sandshrew was behind Pikachu.

"Pikachu, jump up and avoid their attacks," ordered Ash. Pikachu did as it was told and successfully avoided the double tackle attack that KO-ed Clefairy. Ash then looked to see how the others were doing. When he saw that it wasn't well he ignored Pikachu's fight for a moment.

"Oddish!" Oddish had Squirtle up in the air in a red vine-whip attack.

"Everyone listen up, use your specials on these guys. They're weak against their otherwise strong element types defenses," ordered Ash. Before the other Pokemon had time to react to Ash's words, all the Pokemon used their specials.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle had used a water gun on the Oddish and was surprisingly let go. "Squirtle?" The Pokemon then realized that Ash was right and began an all out assault with bubble and water gun attacks.

"Chika!" Chikorita had used a razor leaf attack on the Dratini; since Dratini was a dragon Pokemon, any other Pokemon attack was super effective on it since dragons were super effective on other dragons. Dratini was down for the count.

"Cynda!" Cyndaquil used its ember attack on the Growlithe in front of it.

"Growl!" said the Growlithe in pain and retorted with an ice beam. Cyndaquil dodged the attack and replied it with a flame-thrower attack. Growlithe went down in a hurry.

''Pika-chu!" said Pikachu as it let out an enormous electrical current that shocked the Sandshrew below him.

Author note: Since the last of Ash's orders was to use your special attacks, all these things had happened at once.

"Shrew!" said the Sandshrew in defiance as it tried to get back up from Pikachu's thunder attack. It could only watch as the human boy captured the almost fainted Pokemon one by one. It was angry beyond words; how could he lose to any human?

"Your turn," Ash said as it walked towards the Sandshrew and Clefairy. Sandshrew began to panic. There was no place to hide and he couldn't move.

'No! I don't want to go back there! I will not go back to that terrible place again!' thought Sandshrew as Ash caught Clefairy in a Pokeball. With the last of its strength, X-5 tried to slash the Pokeball away. It didn't work and Sandshrew was caught. 'No! Not there again. Not Team Rocket,' was the Sandshrew's last thoughts as it entered the Pokeball.

"Way to go guys! You did it!" Ash said happily as he tried to hug all his Pokemon at once. The result from this group hug was a flat on his back Ash and a group of very happy Pokemon. This included Lucky; his friends would now see why X-1 was no longer X-1. Lucky was now simply Lucky: a Pokemon trainer's Eevee.

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily as Ash held him up high.

"I'm proud of you all! Pikachu handled two Pokemon at once with my instructions and you three did great without my instructions."

Then it hit Lucky; he didn't do anything in the fight. He just watched as they all fought for him. Lucky felt ashamed right then and tried to leave the group hug to only be stopped by Ash.

"Eevee?" asked Lucky as Ash held him closer.

"Don't worry about it. You're not trained yet so I don't expect you to fight. Besides, that was a really tough battle. Right guys?" All the Pokemon agreed and then yawned. It was late. Ash put his new Pokemon in his pack and dug out his sleeping bag and fell asleep.

"Eevee!" yelled Lucky all of a sudden. Lucky had just remembered what the group had told him. The eggs! How could he have forgotten about the eggs! The entire reason for this mess. With that, Lucky bit Pikachu.



Begin Translation

"OW! What was that for?!" demanded the now severely peeved Pikachu.

"I don't have time to tell you! Get all of Ash's Pokemon and follow me!" ordered the Eevee.

"But why?" asked a confused Pikachu.

"Don't ask. Quickly! We need to go while I still have Oddish's sent with me." With that, Pikachu called all of Ash's Pokemon over and they began to follow Lucky.

"What are we doing out here without Ash?" demanded Squirtle. The more questions that the group made, the faster Lucky seemed to go.

'WHERE IS IT?!' Lucky's mind raced over and over again until he spotted something familiar.

"Over there!" Lucky suddenly yelled. At the sound of Lucky's voice, all the Pokemon present jumped. Lucky ran to a pile of bushes and stuck his head in.

"What are you doing?!" demanded Pikachu.

"Look, it's time to explain yourself or it's time to go back to camp. Which one is it?" growled Chikorita.

"It's both. Come here and see what I've found," ordered Lucky. All the Pokemon gave each other a look and shrugged.

"Why not?" asked Cyndaquil. The Pokemon stuffed their heads through the brush and were amazed at what they saw. It was a bunch of Pokemon eggs. There were four of them, and they all had different colors but they had the same feathered pattern on them.

"Alright, give. How'd you know that these were here?" demanded Squirtle. Before Lucky spoke, Pikachu intervened.

"He'll tell us later. Right now we need to know how to get these eggs back to Ash and that fire before they die."

"I call the gold one," said Cyndaquil. It was the smallest of the group.

"No fair!" joked Chikorita. "Fine then. I'll carry the silver one." That was the next smallest in size.

"Then you and Squirtle should carry the red one and I'll carry the yellow one," said Lucky to Pikachu. The red one was the biggest in size and the yellow one was lighter than the red one. Lucky knew because he had carried the eggs before.

"No arguments here," said Pikachu. With that settled, the Pokemon began to carry the eggs back to camp, which was thankfully not far off.



"Ugh! These things are heavy!" growled Cyndaquil.

"We're almost there so quit your whining," said Chikorita. Chikorita was having as much as a difficult time with the egg as Cyndaquil.

"Pikachu! Squirtle! Lucky! Cyndaquil! Chikorita!" came a voice from up ahead of them.

"Saved the best for last," commented Chikorita. Pikachu rolled his eyes and continued to trudge toward his trainer.

End Translation.



"Hey guys where are you?" Ash yelled. He had woken up to find that all his Pokemon were missing. Pikachu had never run off like this before. Suddenly he heard a far off 'Pika.' Ash moved to where he thought the sound had come from.

"Cynda!" said a familiar Pokemon as it stepped out from the bushes. Ash was so relieved and angry at the same time. Ash was about to scold his Pokemon but then noticed that they were all carrying something.

"What's that ya got there?" Ash asked. He took the egg from Pikachu and Squirtle's hands. "You found Pokemon eggs!" Ash said happily. That meant new Pokemon. "Any idea what they might be?" Ash asked his Pokemon. They all turned the heads toward Lucky who shook his head.

"Pika!' Pikachu said as it yawned once again. It was really dark now.

"Ok, I'll carry two back to camp and you guys can pitch in and help carry back the other two." Ash then proceeded to pick up the one Chikorita was holding and waited for the Pokemon to get organized.

Chikorita helped Cyndaquil while Pikachu and Squirtle balanced the yellow egg over Lucky's back.

"Eevee!" said Lucky, obviously warning Pikachu and Squirtle to be careful. Once they had returned to camp, Ash dug out all the pokemon's blankets and assembled them around the eggs. That got all the Pokemon's attention.

"They'll need to be kept warm for the time being. I get one side, everyone else gets the other.

We've got to do this if we want to hatch these eggs soon." Ash undid his sleeping bag and crawled next to the eggs. Soon him and his Pokemon were fast asleep. Ash had no idea how close the eggs really were to hatching but his guess that it would be really soon. The shells were as hard and they felt warm on their own.

'I wonder what's going to hatch out of them?' was Ash's last thought as he fell asleep. As if on cue, the eggs began to rock back and forth and they all began to glow. Ash's Pokemon slept with their heads turned away from the eggs, exposing their backs to the eggs to keep them warmer. Ash was the only one facing the eggs as they cracked.

"Cuno," squeaked a small voice as it burst out of it's shell. It was a beautiful… purple? It was like a regular Articuno but, it was purple instead of blue. It climbed out of the shell, shaky as a newborn should be. It took a look around and saw a face over near the other eggs. It feeble attempts finally paid off as the Pokemon had climbed into Ash's sleeping bag and listened to his heartbeat. Unknown to Ash he had just adopted the most recent addition to the X family.

"Dos," came another small voice from a shell. The Pokemon burst through its prison with one mighty thrust and began to coo. Just like the other Pokemon, it too was not normal looking. It was black instead of the regular color of yellow and it had an unusually sweet voice. The Pokemon looked around to find it's nesting companion with the human. It made it's way over to Ash just like the other one did and slept on Ash's sleeping bag since Articuno was on Ash's chest. It shivered from the cold of the night.

"Tres," echoed another voice. This time it was an odd looking Moltres that had escaped from it's shell. This Moltres had a green flame coming from its wings and it was a white color. The bird saw the two hatchlings over near a red sleeping bag and decided to investigate. It found it's nestmates and it's now adopted father.

When Moltres trotted on fledgling feet over to the group, it began to warm up. The Zapdos stopped shivering and looked up to see the funny looking bird wandering over to them. It cooed a welcome and moved over for the hatchling. Now Ash had one bird on his chest and one on either side of his legs. If he had been awake, it would have been impossible to move; since he was asleep, it didn't bother him. The golden egg of the group didn't move or crack or have any sort of movement in it. The Pokemon wasn't ready to come out yet.



NEXT MORNING…

"Pikachu?!" Pikachu suddenly yelled as it realized that three of the four eggs had hatched during the night. Pikachu's yell woke everyone up except for Ash who just mumbled about five more minutes mom. Pikachu then relayed the information to the rest of the Pokemon who woke up with a start.

"Eevee?" Lucky began to scan the area and found a wonderful surprise.



Begin Translation

"They're with Ash! Look! They went straight to Ash!" said Lucky with glee. Pikachu gave a sigh of relief and made his way over to where the rest of the Pokemon had gathered around Ash.

"WHOA! Look what came out of them!" said Chikorita. Asleep were three birds unlike they had ever seen before.

"They look like the three legendary birds!" exclaimed Squirtle. With that comment, the newer Pokemon looked at Squirtle in shock.

"You've seen the legendary Pokemon before this?" demanded Cyndaquil. Pikachu sighed and Squirtle blushed a bit.

"Long story. You guys would probably hear about it sooner than later from Ash," said Pikachu.

"Question is what do we do now?" asked Cyndaquil. All the Pokemon stopped to think for a moment.

"I think we should wake Ash up," said Squirtle. With the suggestion still up in the air, a voice interrupted their thoughts.

"You'll do no such thing." All the Pokemon jumped when they heard the unfamiliar voice. It had come from the bird on Ash's chest. They were awake. Pikachu was the first to recover.

"Hi! I'm Pikachu. You're the ones that came out of the eggs?" Pikachu asked. Pikachu wasn't so certain that not waking Ash up was such a bad idea right now. The bird lifted its head off of Ash's chest for a moment.

"We couldn't have come from any other place now could we?" was the Articuno's reply. All the Pokemon there stifled a whoop of excitement in fear of waking up Ash.

"Welcome to the world. I'm Pikachu and these are -" Before Pikachu could finish, the Articuno interrupted.

"Lucky, Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Squirtle. We know. I'm not a regular Pokemon you know. I linked with this young trainer's mind and I'm still sorting out all the details. I just needed his general knowledge. We just hatched you know. Hey, you could answer me this. What's a triple cheese with fries?" asked the Articuno. Pikachu and all the other Pokemon laughed except for Lucky.

"If you hang out with Ash long enough, you'll find out," said Pikachu. The laughter had woken Ash up.

End Translation



"Pikachu? What? The eggs! You guys hatched out of the eggs?" The Articuno nodded and nuzzled his chest. "How cool!" said Ash.

"Pika?" Pikachu began to sniff the last egg. It didn't hatch with the others and Pikachu found that weird.

Ash got busy trying to prepare to leave with three baby birds clinging to him and Pokemon whining for their food.

"Here you go. This will have to do for now. I'll really have to experiment when we get to the next town. Imagine! I have around nine new Pokemon to feed." Ash sat down and ate his breakfast. The baby birds were eating some of Pidgeotto's old bird food formula with a twist.

"Eevee?" Ash turned to see Lucky with a mouthful of Pokeballs. The Pokeballs were the one's that contained the group of five from last night. Lucky wanted them out!

"Sorry Lucky, if those guys come out now, they'll be in terrible condition. They all need to be taken to the Pokemon Center so they can be healed by Nurse Joy," said Ash. When Lucky turned its head away and began to sulk into putting back Ash's Pokemon into his pack, Ash knew that something was wrong.

"Eevee?!" Lucky had been suddenly swooped up from behind. It was Ash! Lucky didn't understand why Ash had just suddenly picked him up like that.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you or the others in the next town. We'll figure out what's the problem together," said Ash softly as he held the Eevee close. Lucky's eyes began to tear up and then Ash set back down the suddenly emotional Pokemon.

"Cuno?" said a voice from the right. When Lucky turned, he saw the whole group of Pokemon in tears too. Lucky was embarrassed and turned away. Ash suddenly ordered all of the Pokemon to return and stuffed their Pokeballs on his belt.

"Time to go. Will you three go inside a Pokeball?" Ash directed the question to the baby birds. All three nodded. With that Ash took out his last remaining Pokeballs and threw them. All of the birds were caught and placed inside the pack. Before Ash left he went over and picked up the golden Pokemon egg.

"Pikachu!" said the small mouse Pokemon on his head. Ash then copied Brock's idea with the last Pokemon egg he hatched and placed the egg in his biggest jacket pocket. It fit perfectly.

"On to the next town and the next badge" said Ash. Lucky looked at Pikachu and asked what was a badge. The reply was something to be smiled at.

"A badge is something a trainer wins at a Pokemon Gym to show how good he is. Ash doesn't have many in this league yet."

Ash turned to look at his now chatting Pokemon and wished he knew what they were talking about. Lucky made a comment and both Pokemon laughed hysterically for a few minutes.

"Good to see you in a good mood Lucky," said Ash as they began to walk along the path. Then a mundane and boring sound filled the forest.

"Prepare for trouble,"

"And make it double,"

(Everyone should know this by now and if you don't....then you have been hiding under a rock for waaaay too many years.)

"So where have you guys been? Running around in your natural habitat or have you been in a sewer and you've just now come up for air?" smirked Ash. He knew he was in a bit of trouble. He had taken on Team Rocket a few times by himself but he always had someone to back him up.

"WHY YOU! Go Arbok!" yelled Jessie.

"Go Wheezing!" echoed James.

"Hey, the kid's got a new Pokemon," Meowth pointed out.

"Then we'll swipe that too!" said Jessie in her arrogant voice.

"We got you now twerp. Now hand over that Pikachu!" demanded James.

"NEVER! Go Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" However, before Pikachu could obey his trainer, Lucky had jumped in-between Ash and Team Rocket. Ash had never seen Lucky like this. The Pokemon's eyes had a look of determination that could have rivaled Ash's own. The Pokemon was very angry for some reason.

"Tackle attack," said Jessie and James together. One Pokemon wouldn't stand in their way of catching Pikachu!

"Eevee!" snarled Lucky. The two Pokemon from team rocket hesitated for a moment, unsure of the abnormal Pokemon in their way. Ash decided to let Lucky battle.

"Lucky! Um.. Do your tackle attack?" said Ash. Before anyone could blink, the Eevee ran toward the pair of petrified Pokemon so fast that it looked like an agility attack instead of a tackle attack. Both Pokemon got hit hard and they both fainted.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?!" demanded Jessie.

"I've never seen a Pokemon like that before," said Meowth.

"Let's split before it decides to get nasty," whimpered James. He was not liking the prospect of this strange Pokemon.

"It's just a weak Pokemon of the twerps! Get out there and fight!" growled Jessie.

"Now! Give team rocket a tackle attack!'' ordered Ash. Lucky was only too happy to reply.

"We're blasting off again!" yelled Team Rocket. Lucky, proud as could be, marched back to Ash's side with pride. It had done exactly as Ash had ordered it to do and won it's first match.

"Way to go! I didn't know you were that powerful," exclaimed Ash. Then it dawned on Ash, Lucky had only used one attack to defeat Team Rocket and Ash didn't know any of Lucky's other attacks. 'I'll have to pull out Dexter later and look up a list of Eevee's attacks,' thought Ash.

"Pika!" cheered Pikachu. The Pokemon was impressed with Lucky's speed and the way it handled itself in its first battle. Little did they know this was not the first battle Lucky had participated in.

"Eevee." Lucky blushed and jumped onto Ash's shoulder. It climbed into Ash's backpack to have a good long rest. About one mile from the next town, Ash stopped and let out all of his original Pokemon for a break. Ash then told the Pokemon that he wanted to be careful about the way they would enter the next Pokemon Center.

"Nurse Joy was scared of Lucky and there's no doubt in my mind that this one will be any different. I want you to go in my bag while we're in there Lucky. I'll need you out Chikorita if Nurse Joy becomes hysterical. You'll have to restrain the Nurse Joy until she calms down if that happens," said Ash. All the Pokemon nodded. The plan was to enter, take Nurse Joy aside and show her Lucky. The only problem was what happens if Nurse Joy gets scared and decided to go haywire on them. "You got that Lucky?"

"Eevee!" nodded the Pokemon as he was stuffed into a full packsack. Then Pikachu, Ash and Chikorita marched down the hill into town, heading for the Pokemon Center. Once there they saw an incredible sight. It was swarming with reporters!

"Have the rampaging Pokemon been here yet?!" asked one of the many reporter's crowding the nurse Joy.

"How many of them are there?"

"Do you know about the rumor of them being captured? Is it true?"

"Was it true that eggs were taken as well during the raid?"

Nurse Joy was trying to get to the door when Officer Jenny came around the corner and told them to break it up.

"Boy, Pikachu. What was all that about?" Ash asked.

"Pikachu?" was Pikachu's reply.

"I can tell you what that was about," said a voice from behind Ash. Ash turned to see a girl his age with an Abra on her shoulders. "Your not from around here are you?" inquired the girl.

"No I'm not. I'm Ash from Pallet Town. I'm travelling around and collecting the badges in this league. And you are?"

"Carol. What you saw there was a mob of reporters trying to make their career in one story. Do you know about the Pokemon fugitives?" asked Carol.

"No, I don't." 'But I've got a pretty good idea where they might be,' added Ash in his own thoughts.

"There's a story floating around that a big Pokemon breeding business was trying to create some powerful Pokemon to take over the world. They had succeeded, but the Pokemon had managed to escape. The Nurse Joy's and Officer Jenny's have been ordered from above to keep a look out for any abnormal Pokemon around these parts lately," said Carol.

"Really?" asked Ash who was unable to take in what he was hearing. How dare someone create a Pokemon just so it could be a slave!

"Yeah. There's even a rumor that the ringleader was caught by a Pokemon trainer and was brought into a Pokemon Center. It's just a story though. No one in these parts would be able to capture such powerful Pokemon," said Carol. "By the way, are you a trainer?" added Carol.

"Yep!" was Ash's reply.

"Want to battle?" asked Carol.

"Um… sorry, I can't. I've, uh… got to go get some Pokemon healed at the Pokemon Center. Maybe later?" Before the stunned girl could answer him Ash was going into the doors of the Pokemon Center.

'Why would that boy avoid battling with me? He seemed as if he was hiding something,' Carol thought. 'I wonder…' "Nah!" she said, shaking her head. "He can't be the kid from the rumor. Can he?"



"Nurse Joy? Officer Jenny? Can I speak with you for a minute?" Ash had just interrupted a conversation between Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. The two very occupied females ignored him and continued on with their conversation.

"So you know what to do if they show up?" asked the Officer Jenny. Nurse Joy nodded and her reply confused Ash.

"Yes, come get you and prepare them for transport." Transport? What were these two talking about? They couldn't be talking about his Pokemon could they?

"Excuse me," said Ash a little bit louder. They ignored him once again. He tried a little louder to no avail. Ash new from experiences with Misty that if girls wanted to talk, there was nothing you could do about it. Ash gave up and sat down on a bench; they could be awhile.

"Oh! Did you want something young man?" said Nurse Joy suddenly. She had just realized that there was a stranger in the Pokemon Center. Ash thought along the lines of 'Finally!' when she directed the question at him.

"Yes, I really have to tell you and Officer Jenny something very important." With both women looking at Ash took a deep breath and began his story. "It concerns the Pokemon that have been terrorizing the people around here lately..."

"You didn't see one of them did you?" interrupted Nurse Joy.

"I um-" stuttered Ash. Both women had taken a step closer at the mention of the Pokemon. Officer Jenny took a step closer and got right into Ash's face.

"Where did you see them boy? I see that your not from around here so you probably don't know how dangerous they are. Did you or did you not see them?" Officer Jenny said in a low voice. Ash found the courage to answer her when she said dangerous. No one called his Lucky dangerous!

"They're not dangerous! I can even prove it." Ash growled as he took off his backpack. Before the women could react, Lucky jumped out and sat in the middle of the floor.

"I-it's one of the Pokemon!" said Nurse Joy. Ash could tell that there was a hint of panic and fear in her voice. Ash smiled and picked up Lucky.

"This is Lucky. I came across him on the road badly beat up and took him to the nearest Pokemon Center." Officer Jenny jumped back and took out a pair of handcuffs.

"So, you're the ringleader!" she said in disgust. Ringleader?

"What are you talking about? I found Lucky here on the road and when the Nurse Joy went ballistic calling Lucky a monster here, I got angry too. Maybe I shouldn't have walked out like that, but she was acting just like you two. You look like you've never seen a Pokemon before," growled Ash. That stopped the two for a moment.

"You just picked up this Pokemon on the road? You have no idea what that thing is, do you?" asked Nurse Joy incredulously.

"I know that this 'thing' is a Pokemon and that it's my friend," snapped Ash. Officer Jenny still had her handcuffs out.

"What do you know about that Pokemon?" asked Nurse Joy softly. Ash was burning angry by now and wanted some answers. He took a deep breath that seemed to calm down Lucky too and began his story again.

"As I already told you before, I found Lucky on the road and took him to the nearest Pokemon Center to get healed. The Nurse there went from jumpy to terrified. When I tried to ask her what was going on, she said some pretty nasty things about Lucky. I got angry and stomped off with Lucky in tow. Then I think we came across the rest of the group," said Ash. That got both of the women's attention.

"You fought the whole gang?!" yelled Officer Jenny. Ash beamed with a hint of pride.

"Nope! I caught the whole gang as you say." Ash then got a look of shock from both of the women. They both backed up a few steps.

"H-H-H-How? Those Pokemon have been terrorizing us for weeks. How could a little boy catch such a group!" exclaimed Nurse Joy. Officer Jenny put away her handcuffs and walked over to Ash.

"Are you telling the truth?" she demanded. As Officer Jenny looked into the young Pokemon trainer's eyes before her, she saw the truth before he said a word.

"Yes, and they're all in need of medical attention." Nurse Joy then saw Ash's eyes as well and walked over.

"How many are there?" she asked. Ash took out his Pokeballs and replied.

"Five. There's a Dratini, Sandshrew, Clefairy, Oddish and Growlithe. I don't know how they'll react though; I haven't taken them out of the Pokeballs yet because of their injuries." Nurse Joy nodded and took the Pokeballs into the ER Ash sat down and began to wait for some news about their progress when Officer Jenny asked him the question.

"How did you manage to catch such dangerous Pokemon?" Ash looked up to see Officer Jenny leaning against the wall across from him. "I can't figure that out yet."

Ash smiled and released his Pokemon. "With these." Officer Jenny was shocked to find just a Pikachu, Squirtle, Chikorita, Cyndaquil and the Eevee in front of her. "Pikachu was my starter Pokemon, Squirtle is the next one that I've had for the longest time, then comes Chikorita and Cyndaquil."

"Very impressive!" was her only comment before the ER light went out. Ash jumped to his feet and caught a startled Lucky before he tumbled off his lap. Nurse Joy came out of the doors and smiled.

"They're going to be OK. You can go see them now."

Ash brushed past her and entered the room. Inside were his Pokemon. Ash sighed a relief when he saw that they weren't being held down like Lucky had been. One by one the Pokemon began to wake up to find Ash looking over them smiling and asking how they felt. The first was Growlithe.

"Growlithe?" whispered the blue furry Growlithe as it regained consciousness. The first thing it saw was a friendly smile and a Pikachu.

"How are you?" asked the human boy. Growlithe was confused for a moment. It didn't know where it was… and then it remembered the fight. This boy was the one who captured him.

End of Part Two

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	3. Of Arguments and Spies

Author Note: I don't own Pokemon. The original idea belongs to Terminatress. From this chapter on, I am the owner of this story. I am the sole writer for Pt 3 and up. Ugh, I tire of writing these author notes. Anyway, onto the story.

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Part Three – Of Arguments and Spies

As that last thought went through his mind, the oddly colored Growlithe looked back at the trainer and remembered all of the pain that he had gone through in that lab. The tests, the examinations, all of it came rushing back. He started to tremble.

"It's OK, Growlithe," Ash said as he saw the Pokemon start to shake. "I won't hurt you."

As Ash said that, he reached out his hand to stroke the frightened Growlithe. As the hand came closer, Growlithe shrunk back, remembering all of the times he had been stricken by a human.

"No, no, it's all right, I promise that I'm not going to hurt you," Ash said, holding his hand still for a second.

'Yeah, right, I've heard that comment thousands of times,' thought the Growlithe, still turned away from Ash. 'You're not going to fool me this...' The Growlithe stopped mid-thought. He had turned around to face Ash and show him that he wouldn't be fooled, but something about Ash's sincere look stopped him. The look that Ash was giving him looked nothing like the look that he had seen the scientists give him. It looked as if he really meant what he had said.

When Growlithe turned around and looked at him, Ash took this opportunity to start stroking the no-longer shivering Pokemon.

Growlithe stared at Ash in surprise. No human had ever treated him like Ash did; they only ordered him around. Ash, however, was different. Ash gave off a certain feeling that seemed to match exactly what he had said.

When Ash stopped stroking him, he whispered something into Growlithe's ear that surprised Growlithe. Ash has said that three of the eggs had hatched, and all of the hatchlings were safe with him. He also mentioned that the fourth egg was still not hatched, and then Ash showed Growlithe that it was in his inner coat pocket. Then, Growlithe watched as he moved on to the next Pokemon that was waking up and tried to touch them and tell them what Ash had told him. Slightly confused, the Pokemon continued to watch Ash.

'Why didn't he strike me? Isn't that how all humans treat Pokemon? Or was the way Ash treated me how most humans treat their Pokemon?' the Growlithe thought. 'Maybe those scientists aren't like other humans... Maybe humans aren't as bad as we thought...'

Ash continued to greet each Pokemon as they woke up, getting various responses. The Growlithe had seemed most friendly, allowing Ash to stroke it for about a minute. The Clefairy and Oddish both let Ash touch them, but not as long as the Growlithe. The Dratini never let Ash touch her, but she did look at Ash for a little while. The Sandshrew wouldn't even consider looking at Ash. He kept facing the other way, trying to ignore Ash.

When all of the Pokemon had woken up and Nurse Joy, who happened to be standing behind a glass window with Officer Jenny, realized that none of the Pokemon had harmed Ash, she cautiously entered the room. As she opened the door and stepped in, suddenly all eyes in the room, including all of the Pokemon's eyes, were on her. She began to look slightly nervous seeing all of the dangerous Pokemon staring at her.

"S-s-so, A-ash, h-h-how's it g-going i-i-in h-here?" she managed to stammer out.

Ash, who was completely calm, answered her by saying, "Pretty good. All of the Pokemon seem to be just fine. Some are actually better that I had expected."

"W-wh-what d-do you m-mean?" asked the now very nervous Nurse.

"Well, I heard that they were created to be slaves to be used in world domination, so I figured that they would be pretty angry at humans. But so far, the only Pokemon that is showing any total hatred is this Sandshrew," Ash replied, pointing at the Pokemon sitting on the bed, turned away from him. "In fact," he said, moving over to the Growlithe, " this Pokemon allowed me to pet him for nearly a minute." Ash demonstrated by stroking the Growlithe's head. Growlithe showed no signs of hatred towards Ash.

"Incredible!" said Officer Jenny as she entered the room. "You've been able to do what many other Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys couldn't do much quicker that we could have ever done!"

"And what exactly is that?" Ash inquired.

"You caught all six of these Pokemon and tamed two of them in little under two days when it would have taken an entire police force weeks just to catch them all and even more weeks to tame them!" said Officer Jenny incredulously.

Nurse Joy, at this point, was standing there, recomposing herself and listening to Officer Jenny talk to Ash, when she suddenly remembered something one of the reporters had said yesterday.

"Um, Ash?" Nurse Joy asked.

"What is it, Nurse Joy?"

"Did you happen to find any eggs?"

Ash fell silent. What should he say? With three of the eggs already hatched, and with what they were, Ash didn't know how to respond. He gave a quick glance over his Pokemon. Their expressions seemed to say "Don't look at me, I don't know." Then when he looked at Lucky, he saw the expression of pure terror in her eyes. She looked as if Ash revealing the eggs might end up destroying them all. Just seeing her face told Ash all that he needed to know.

"I'm sorry, Nurse Joy, but I did not find any eggs," was all he had said.

All of a sudden, an amazed look crossed the face of all of the strangely colored Pokemon. They all thought the same thing. 'Why did he keep the eggs a secret? I saw him show me the golden egg, so why didn't he tell that nurse about it? Could he really care for us that much?'

"Oh," said Nurse Joy. "That's too bad."

"Hey, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, do you mind if me and my Pokemon had a little time alone?" Ash asked.

"Oh, well, if that's what you want..." Officer Jenny replied.

"Also, I think it would be best if nobody knew that any of these Pokemon are here. If anyone knows, they may be taken back to that breeding facility, and if they ran away from it, then I think that there is something wrong with it," Ash added. Yet another amazed look came from the Pokemon.

"Well, OK…" said Officer Jenny. Then they both got up and left the room, shutting the door behind them.

As they walked back to the lobby of the Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy said that she had noticed something strange about Ash.

"I don't know why, but it feels like he gave off a really strange yet reassuring feeling."

"Hmm… now that I think of it, he did seem strangely caring," responded Officer Jenny.

"I wonder who he is..." said Nurse Joy to herself.

She tried to think, but before she could start, a huge wave of reporters asking questions about the escaped Pokemon hit her head on. Doing as that trainer asked, she shooed all of the reporters out of the building with Officer Jenny's help, assuring that the Pokemon and their supposed captor were not here.

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Once Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny had left the room, Ash turned to his Pokemon. He saw that two distinct groups had formed while he was talking to the two women; a group of Ash's original Pokemon plus Lucky and, surprisingly, Growlithe were on one side of the room, while the rest of the oddly colored Pokemon were on the other. The group of oddly colored Pokemon seemed to be glaring at the Growlithe with a similar expression that seemed to say "You traitor!" The other group was surrounding Growlithe, apparently discussing something.

This odd stalemate went on for what seemed like hours, when in reality, it had only been about five minutes. Finally, the oddly colored Pokemon broke their glare and the Sandshrew stepped forward.

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Begin Translation

"You traitor," growled Sandshrew, pointing an accusing finger at Growlithe. "How could you choose that pathetic trainer and his idiotic Pokemon over us. I thought that you, of all of us, would stand beside me and back me up. Yet here I see you with that trainer's Pokemon and the other traitor."

"Pathetic?! Idiotic?! Who are you calling pathetic and idiotic?" shouted Pikachu, who was angrier than a sleep deprived and starving Snorlax (which is pretty dang funny to imagine). "That 'pathetic' trainer and his 'idiotic' Pokemon kicked your butt from here to the other side of the world!"

Even with that insult, Sandshrew somehow managed to remain calm. "Still, he is a human. And all humans are weak and pathetic. Same goes for any Pokemon stupid enough to join one."

Pikachu was about to go crazy on Sandshrew's, um…, rear end (since I figure that I can't cuss in this) when Squirtle stopped him. "It's not worth the energy, man. Save it for later."

Pikachu calmed down, and Squirtle tried to reason with Sandshrew. "Look, I know what it's like to be mistreated by a human, but that doesn't mean that every human is like that," he said. "Ash is a kindhearted person who would never hurt any Pokemon intentionally."

Sandshrew continued to stare coldly at the other Pokemon. He finally answered after a long pause. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You don't realize that all that Ash does is a trick. He acts nice to gain your trust, and when he doesn't need you any more, he'll just throw you away like trash. He's nothing more that a cheap, evil jerk who wouldn't hesitate to dump you for something more powerful. Which will probably end up being dumped itself," Sandshrew said with an even colder glare than before.

All that the Squirtle could do was let its mouth drop and stare. The other Pokemon couldn't believe what they heard either.

Clefairy and Oddish both seemed a little shocked. "Dude, that was harsh," said Clefairy. "You didn't need to take it that far."

"Shut it, Clefairy. They deserve to be belittled. They are foolish for trusting a human," responded Sandshrew, his cold glare now turning on Clefairy. She could have sworn that it was warmer before he looked at her.

There was a long pause as Sandshrew continued to glare at Clefairy. Finally, someone spoke up. Surprisingly, it was Growlithe.

"What do you mean by foolish? He showed us that he had one of the eggs and told us that the other three had already hatched."

"That could have easily been a fake. As for the hatched eggs, he probably just sold them to some random human out there to make a quick buck," retorted Sandshrew.

"Even so, why would he treat us with such kindness?" Growlithe asked.

"Just a way to try and get us to trust him so that it will be easier to take us back to the scientists."

"What about when he told the other humans to report that we weren't here?"

"It would allow him to return us to the scientists himself and collect the reward himself," said Sandshrew. His glare had gotten to the point where he could have looked at a Dewgong and made it shiver.

Growlithe had run out of ideas. Sandshrew had struck them all down so easily. Growlithe started to doubt himself. He ran through the experience of when he woke up to try and think of anything. That's when it hit him.

"But what about that look on his face when he was looking at you? That look that seemed to radiate a feeling of compassion and love? What's your explanation for that?" Growlithe asked.

"That's too easy. He obviously had…" Sandshrew began to explain. However, he somehow couldn't finish the explanation. For once, Sandshrew was lost for words.

Sandshrew blinked. His cold gaze was shattered. He just couldn't think of any other reason behind the look than that it was truly genuine. He remembered it clearly. When he had woken up, it was the first thing he saw. It made him feel like he could trust in the one who was making the face. Then he realized that the look was coming from the human who had captured him.

"He's got a point, X-5," said a small voice behind the Sandshrew. He turned around to see who had said it. It was X-2.

"What?" said a startled X-5.

"He's got a point," repeated the Oddish. "Ash really did seem like he cared for us."

The Sandshrew couldn't believe what he was hearing. 2 of his 5 friends had sided with the human, and 1 had just supported them. "Not you, too," he exclaimed. He looked at X-4. "What about you?"

The purple Clefairy just shrugged and said, "I don't know. I want to side with you, but… that look he gave me, it was just… too real."

The Dratini decided to speak at this point. "I'm still with you, X-5," she said.

The Sandshrew thanked her quickly, and then looked at the Oddish and Clefairy with disgust. "If you're going to agree with them, then get away from me. You are no longer my friends for as long as you trust the human," he practically spat at them. They backed away from him, but they didn't join the other group. Instead, they just stood off to the side.

"Never mind that," said the Sandshrew, returning his attention to the other Pokemon. "I'm sure that that human that you care so much for has none of the same feelings as you. He's just using you. Why can't you see that?"

"He's not using us!" yelled Lucky, who had been sitting back for most of the argument. "He really cares. I know it!"

"Shut your mouth, X-1. Why should I believe what a traitor says?" replied Sandshrew.

This made Lucky almost as angry as Pikachu was. But before Lucky could do anything, Chikorita walked up to him and said, "Ignore him. Let me handle this."

Lucky calmed down and Chikorita turned her attention to the Sandshrew. "If you won't believe **Lucky**, then let me tell you. Ash is not using us," she said, putting intentional stress on Lucky's name.

X-5 shook his head. "I won't believe you or **X-1**. You're both lying," he replied, with a slight smirk. "If you truly trust him, then that only means that you have a brain smaller than that of a mentally retarded Slowpoke."

That made all of Ash's original Pokemon completely lose their temper. They all prepared to attack the Sandshrew and Dratini.

"This is gonna be fun," said Sandshrew, getting ready to let loose a razor leaf.

"Get ready, guys!" Pikachu commanded, also prepared for battle with a thunderbolt that was ready to be launched.

End Translation

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Ash watched as his Pokemon carried out their argument. He had thought of stopping them, but decided to let them stop on their own. He thought it would be best if they got an agreement on where they stand with each other. Strangely, Ash wasn't surprised that the Growlithe had sided with his original Pokemon and Lucky instead of the others. Maybe it was because of how Growlithe had reacted to him when it woke up.

When the Clefairy and Oddish backed away from the Sandshrew and Dratini, Ash began to wonder who was winning the argument. Then, Sandshrew said something that had seemed to make his Pokemon really mad. Ash saw as they all prepared to start fighting. He saw the electricity begin to build up in his Pikachu's cheeks. That's when Ash decided that this argument had taken a wrong turn.

Just as Pikachu released his thunderbolt and as Sandshrew let a razor leaf attack loose (which Ash later thought was kind of strange), Ash stepped in-between the two groups and yelled' "Stop!" The two attacks hit him and he was both fried and shredded at the same time. He fell down flat on his face anime style, and all of the Pokemon, including Sandshrew and Dratini, laughed. Sandshrew, however, cut it short when he realized what he was doing. Dratini followed suit, but she did laugh a bit longer than Sandshrew.

Ash picked himself up and looked at his laughing Pokemon, then at himself, and he started laughing himself. Sandshrew was a bit startled, and he wondered why Ash didn't yell at his Pokemon for laughing. Sandshrew shook off the surprise and quickly resumed his neutral look.

Ash and his Pokemon finally stopped laughing. Ash looked at the Sandshrew and Dratini with a smile on his face to see their reactions. His smile fell off his face when he saw the cold, distant look that they were giving him. He turned back to his original Pokemon and said, "I guess if you guys are healthy enough to fight, then I guess it's time we had better leave before anyone else needs this room."

He took out his Pokemon's Pokeballs and recalled all of his Pokemon except for Pikachu and Lucky. He returned his original Pokemon's Pokeballs to his belt and put the other ones in his backpack.

As he left the Center, he realized that Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny had done what he asked them to do; not a reporter was in sight. Ash was very grateful that he could leave inconspicuously. Without any reporters to crowd him, there was no chance that Lucky would fall out of his bag and give him away. He looked around quickly to see if anyone was following him, and headed out of the town.

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Carol couldn't believe her eyes. Ash really was the one from the rumor!

Carol had watched Ash ever since he turned down her request for a battle. She watched as he entered the Pokemon Center and showed her the black Eevee. When she saw it, she was stunned. 'How can he pick it up? I thought it was bloodthirsty! Why isn't it attacking them?' she had thought. She couldn't hear anything that was being said, but when Ash showed Officer Jenny his Pokemon, Carol was just as surprised as Jenny was.

When Ash left the room and went to the back, she went around the building and tried to find the room he went to. When she finally found the small window that was near the ceiling of the room that they were in, Ash was leaning over the Growlithe as it woke.

Carol marveled at the scene. All five of the other escaped Pokemon were lying on separate beds. She had never imagined to see them all in one spot. Yet, there they were! There was a light blue Growlithe, a purple Clefairy, a white Dratini, an Oddish with red leaves, and a green Sandshrew with a pink flower on its head.

She then turned her attention to Ash, who was leaning over the Growlithe. It had just woken up. She saw Ash reach out his hand to touch the Growlithe, who shrank away. Ash said something to it, and it must have been reassured by what he said, because it then let Ash stroke it for a couple of seconds. When Ash was finished, he whispered something in its ear and moved onto the next Pokemon.

Carol watched the rest of the scene unfold: Ash greeting the rest of the Pokemon, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny entering and leaving, the large argument between the Pokemon, and finally when Ash got fried and sliced up by the Pikachu and Sandshrew. She chuckled a bit herself, but was also startled that the Sandshrew, a ground type, used razor leaf, a grass type move.

She finally watched as Ash return the Pokemon to their Pokeballs, excluding the Pikachu, who jumped onto his shoulder, and the Eevee, who hid in Ash bag. She realized that he was leaving the Center and rushed around to the entrance. When he emerged and looked around, she quickly ducked behind a near bush without looking.

"Ouch!!! Note to self – Thorn bushes are not the best place to hide," she said to herself. When she looked out of the bush, Carol saw him leave the town and walk onto the road east of the city with the Pikachu on his shoulder. Carol pulled herself out of the thorn bush and followed him down the route.

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Ash had been walking for almost an hour and he finally found what he was looking for. It was a nice, secluded beach that was completely hidden from the main path. It was just the place where he could let out all of his Pokemon without anyone seeing him or them.

"Everyone, come on out!" he said, throwing up his Pokeballs. They landed one by one, releasing the Pokemon inside them.

Once they were all out, excluding the three legendary birds (Ash didn't want to risk that much), they dispersed among the beach. Squirtle, Pikachu, Lucky, and surprisingly Growlithe jumped in the water. Cyndaquil and Chikorita laid on the beach, soaking up the warm sun. Oddish and Clefairy stood there, not knowing what to do, and Sandshrew and Dratini sat as far away from Ash as they could.

"Be right back, guys!" yelled Ash, pulling his swim trunks out of his bag. He ran back behind a couple of rocks and changed. When he had finished, he ran to join the Pokemon in the water.

"WOO-HOO!!!" he screamed as he jumped into the water. He surfaced, shook his head to get the hair out of his face, and swam toward his Pokemon, who greeted him with a friendly splash.

Ash smirked. "So that's how you want to play? Well, have some of this!" he said, and a splash war quickly broke out. Cyndaquil and Chikorita laughed, Oddish and Clefairy smiled, and Sandshrew and Dratini completely ignored him.

Carol, who was hiding in a bush (not a thorn bush, this time) and watching all of this (except for Ash changing, obviously!), began to chuckle watching the splash fight.

Lucky's ears pricked up; he had heard something. It sounded like a girl laughing. He swam to the shore, which drew Ash's and the attention of all other Pokemon involved in the splash fight. They followed him out of the water.

"What's up, Lucky? Something wrong?" asked Ash, who was just a little worried.

"Eevee!" was the Pokemon's response.

Carol stopped laughing when the Eevee began to approach where she was hiding. She began to panic. 'What am I going to do?' she frantically thought.

Lucky was now in front of the bush that Carol was hiding in. Carol was really scared now. When Lucky stuck his nose into the bush, Carol became so afraid that she jumped back and let loose a shriek.

Lucky, Ash, and anyone else within a two mile radius of that beach jumped a few inches into the air when they heard that awful scream. 'That was even worse than that scream that the Nurse Joy with the blue hair had let loose when she saw Lucky! Misty's got some close competition here,' thought Ash.

Once he had recovered from that horrible noise, Ash realized that it had come from the little girl that was standing behind the bush that Lucky was standing in front of. She was staring at Lucky, obviously scared of him. He recognized her face, but he couldn't quite place it. Then he remembered the girl he had seen in the last town. "Carol? What are you doing here? Why were you hiding behind that bush?" he asked.

Carol snapped out of her trance when Ash asked her that, and she looked at him and stammered out her best attempt at a lie. "Um… well, I was… uh… exploring! Yeah! I was exploring. Hehe…"

Ash stood there, looking at her with a face that said, "Yeah, right." After a second, Carol broke down.

"OK, I was spying on you! Happy? You caught me!" she yelled.

"Yes, I _am_ happy," Ash replied sarcastically. "Now, how long have you been spying on me?"

"Well…"

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"Well, if you've seen all of that, then I guess that there's no hiding anything from you," Ash said after Carol had finished telling him everything that she had seen. "Now, what do you want from me?"

Carol was surprised. "What?" she asked, very confused.

"You've seen that I'm the one who caught all these Pokemon. Now you're going to hold it over my head until I give you something. Right?" Ash asked.

"I don't want anything, Ash," Carol said. "I just wanted to know if you really were the one from the rumor, that's all."

"Really?" Ash said. Carol nodded her head. Ash seemed to be deep in thought. After a long silence, he finally asked Carol a question. "Where are your parents? They're probably worried about where you are."

Carol looked at her feet. "My parents aren't, well, around anymore," she said, on the verge of tears.

Ash looked at her, then away from her, letting the words sink in. "Oh, I'm so sorry," was all he could say.

"No, don't be. It wasn't your fault," said Carol. "I live with my Pokemon. They keep me company."

Ash looked back at Carol, remembering her Abra. "I think I have an idea," Ash said as he stood up.

"What?"

"You can join me on my journey!" Ash exclaimed.

Carol all of a sudden felt her sad mood lift. "Really? You mean it?" she asked. She looked up at Ash with hope.

"Yep! I do mean it!" Ash answered. "It gets lonely out here with only my Pokemon. Some company would be much appreciated."

Carol sprang up and hugged Ash. Ash was a bit taken aback by the sudden embrace. She let him go, and she continued to look at him with a look of complete happiness. The scene seemed to last forever.

And when everything seemed perfect, a huge explosion rocked the entire beach and knocked both of them to the ground.

End of Part Three

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	4. Bonds of Destiny

Author Note: I don't own Pokemon. The original idea belongs to Terminatress. I think that Carol can now be classified as belonging to me, since I am the one who created most of her character. Also, I may not be able to update for a little while. I have a large research essay that is due next week, and since it will be worth most of my grade, I'll have to focus on it more. Now, onto the fourth part of the story!

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Part Four – Bonds of Destiny

As soon as Ash heard the explosion, he hugged Carol close to try and protect her. The sheer force of the blast has thrown them nearly a foot away from where they had been standing. When Ash opened his eyes, he instantly regretted it, for massive amounts of sand were also thrown up, creating a dust cloud that stung his eyes.

Once most of the dust settled, Ash's Pokemon, excluding Sandshrew and Dratini, who were to far away to be affected by the blast, ran over to him, very worried. They crowded around him as he got up and opened his eyes again, this time, more cautiously.

Luckily, since most of the dust had settled, Ash could see without sand floating in his eyes. He scanned the beach to find anything amiss. All of his Pokemon were unharmed, and so was Carol. Then, he looked at the place where the explosion had come from to hear an unwelcome sound.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

While they were droning on with their motto, Ash quickly told Pikachu to thunderbolt them. He happily obliged.

"To denounce the- OUCH! Hey! We weren't done!" Jessie yelled as the blast of lightning hit the ground in front of them, making them jump out of the cloud of sand that they were hiding in.

Ash sighed. "Why can't you just skip the motto, Team Rocket? You've said it so many times that it got old about the fifth time you said it," Ash yawned, obviously looking bored.

When Ash said Team Rocket, all of the oddly colored Pokemon began to shiver, remembering their horrible treatment. Lucky knew that these idiots were too easy to get rid of, but the rest did not know that. They grouped up in a small huddle to try and protect themselves.

This quick motion made Team Rocket look over towards where the Pokemon were hiding. Before they were all hidden, Team Rocket saw what they were.

"Ooh! Jessie! Meowth! Look at that!" James exclaimed, pointing at the small huddle of Pokemon. "There are more than that Eevee!"

"Sweet! With all dose Pokemon to give to da boss, we'll be swimming in rewards!" plotted Meowth, imagining the idea.

Jessie shook with excitement and yelled, "Change of plans, boys! We were originally after that Eevee, but now we're after those five little treasure troves!"

James and Meowth both nodded, and then they all jumped back into the dust cloud. Ash knew that there was some sort of machine in there. Unfortunately for him, he was right.

Out from the cloud of dust, a large machine that was shaped like a Lickitung. It rolled forward, and Ash could see Jessie and James sitting in the head of the machine, one behind each eye.

Pikachu began to charge up an attack, but before he could let it loose, the machine's giant tongue rolled out of its mouth and grabbed all of Ash's original Pokemon. When Pikachu let the attack loose, it only bounced off of the tongue and scattered without doing any damage.

"Ha! Why do you even try? You know we always Pika-proof our machines!" laughed Jessie.

"But we're after a much bigger prize, so…" James said, pulling a lever.

The giant tongue then lifted up and whipped back down, releasing its hold on the Pokemon, which sent them crashing into the ground.

"Guys!" Ash yelled as he ran over to see if his Pokemon were OK. They weren't. All of them were knocked out by the impact.

Ash looked up in time to see Team Rocket's machine turn to face the other Pokemon. Ash realized what was about to happen and raced over to them.

The next few seconds seemed to play in slow motion for the Pokemon in the huddle. They saw as the machine's tongue rolled out towards them. They all thought 'No! Not back to Team Rocket! Anything but that!' Then, out of nowhere, Ash jumped in front of the tongue and took the attack for them.

Everyone who saw this happen gasped. Team Rocket got extremely upset. "Why you little brat! How dare you block our attack?!" Jessie screamed at him. "Go join your Pokemon!"

The tongue then rose up and flung Ash down next to his Pokemon. He landed on his arm and skidded along the sand until he collided with his Pokemon.

Carol was in a state of panic and shock. She let a loud scream escape her lips. She ran over to Ash as fast as she could. He was breathing, but he was knocked unconscious.

"Jessie, I think that was a bit much," James told his counterpart. "You could have killed him!"

"Who cares, now that he's unconscious, he won't interfere with our stealing of these Pokemon!" Jessie exclaimed, turning the machine to face the odd Pokemon once again.

The huddle of Pokemon looked at where he landed. They then turned back to Team Rocket. A strange feeling had begun to build up in each of them. It was a mixture of compassion and rage. Even Sandshrew, who hated Ash with a passion, found himself becoming angrier and angrier.

Team Rocket had realized this, and they started to look worried. "N-now, isn't there a-any way w-we can s-settle this without fighting?" James nervously stammered, looking at the Pokemon. They just ignored him and began to build up their attacks.

Jessie looked nervously at James, who did the same to her. "Oh, crap. I think I know what's about to happen," Jessie said. James nodded at her, and they looked at Meowth, who was on his knees, praying to Arceus that they wouldn't die.

The Pokemon finally released their charged up attacks. An explosion that was larger than the first rocked the entire beach. The machine blew sky high, sending the Rockets away so fast that they couldn't even say their traditional "We're blasting off again!" catchphrase.

The Pokemon celebrated for a quick second, and then remembered Ash. They looked at each other, and they all raced off towards him. All but Sandshrew. He was highly confused by the feeling that compelled him to attack Team Rocket. Lost in thought, he wandered along the beach until he arrived at a rock formation that was far enough away from everyone else so that he couldn't be seen or disturbed. Sandshrew hoisted himself onto it and sat down, staring out at the water, trying to compose his thoughts.

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As Ash slowly regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was a strange wet feeling on his cheek. His first thought was 'What happened?' Then it all came back in a flood of memories. He first remembered that Team Rocket had thrown him into the ground, and he remembered feeling horrible pain in his left arm upon impact. Piecing those memories together made him conclude that the wet presence on his cheek was blood from a cut that he must have received from his harsh landing.

The next memories that returned to him were that Team Rocket had tried to capture his Pokemon. He opened his eyes and sat up quickly at the thought. He looked around, trying to find Team Rocket. The only thing that he saw was the wreckage of Team Rocket's machine. It was sitting where it was when Team Rocket knocked him out, but it was no longer in its previous shape. Currently, it looked like a pile of scrap metal.

With that done, he looked for his Pokemon. He easily found them sitting around him, cheering happily. They were obviously glad that he was awake. Pikachu jumped up on his right shoulder and licked his cheek. Ash realized that this was what the wet feeling that he felt when he woke up was.

"Hey, Pikachu, I see that your doing fine," Ash finally said.

"Pika! Pika-pi!" Pikachu happily yelled out, jumping down in front of Ash. Ash raised his left arm to pet Pikachu, but he let out a short yell when his arm sent shock waves of pain to his brain. Ash looked at his arm to find that it was hanging next to him at an awkward angle. Ash grimaced when he saw it. He continued to survey his body. There were multiple scrapes and cuts on his arms and legs.

"Carol, where are you?" Ash asked when he realized that he couldn't find her.

"Behind you," said a voice. Ash turned his body as best as he could to see Carol holding Ash's Chikorita, treating its injuries.

"Carol, could you pull my first aid kit out of my backpack? I've got some cuts here that need bandaging, and I think that my arm is broken," Ash asked her. Carol nodded, sat Chikorita down, and hurried over to Ash's side, with Chikorita close behind.

Carol opened Ash's bag, which was still on his back, and quickly pulled out his first aid kit. She opened it up and pulled out the bandages and the antibiotic cream. She quickly applied them to Ash's many cuts.

Ash marveled at how fast she did this. Carol saw the look he gave her and answered his unasked question.

"When you live by yourself, you learn how to take care of injuries," was all that she said. Ash mouthed a silent "Oh," and turned back to his Pokemon. He saw all of his original Pokemon sitting there, as well as Lucky, Growlithe, Oddish, Clefairy, and Dratini. They all grouped around him while he was unconscious, and now that he was awake, they were sitting next to him.

The Oddish, Clefairy, and Dratini looked slightly confused about the way that they felt about Ash. Ash realized this and raised his right arm and petted each of them and gave them the same look he had given them in the Pokemon Center. Their looks of confusion melted away at the touch. They finally realized that Ash really _did_ care for them.

Ash continued to stroke them reassuringly. He then realized that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Sandshrew?" he exclaimed, looking around, highly worried.

Carol pointed in the general direction of the rock that Sandshrew was sitting on. "He looked troubled, so I just left him alone," she replied.

Ash wondered what was wrong. He then decided that Sandshrew needed some comforting. Ash stood up and walked as best as he could over to the lone Pokemon.

Carol started to protest, saying that he needed a splint for his broken arm, but Ash just ignored her. Carol finally gave up on him and returned to treating his Pokemon.

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Thought whizzed throughout Sandshrew's mind. He looked back towards where Ash was lying, letting himself wonder about how he was. For some reason, he hoped that Ash was OK. Sandshrew returned his gaze to the lake. The strange feelings and thoughts raced around in his mind.

What seemed like hours passed, but Sandshrew couldn't find any explanation for the feelings. Finally, Sandshrew felt a presence behind him. He whirled around, ready to attack whatever was behind him, but stopped short when he saw Ash's figure standing there.

Sandshrew studied Ash's body, appalled at the damage that Ash had taken. He saw Ash's many bandages and bruises covering Ash's entire figure. Sandshrew's eyes finally wandered to Ash's left arm, and Sandshrew's mouth dropped when he saw that it was horrible mangled. A new feeling welled up inside Sandshrew, but it wasn't like the one he felt when Team Rocket threw Ash into the ground. It was a strange mix of sorrow and compassion.

Sandshrew watched as Ash walked around the rock and sat down next to him. Ash didn't look at Sandshrew, but instead, at the water that Sandshrew had been staring at seconds ago. Sandshrew followed suit and looked out at the water, too.

Ash finally spoke. "Isn't it a beautiful sight, Sandshrew?" said Ash.

Sandshrew looked at Ash, and then quickly looked away. Ash noticed Sandshrew's sudden action, and turned to face him.

"What's wrong, Sandshrew?"

Sandshrew just ignored Ash's question and continued to look away. Ash immediately recognized this treatment. He had seen it many times before.

"You don't trust me, do you?" Ash inquired. Sandshrew looked at Ash, surprised that Ash could tell so easily.

"Yep, I knew it. I've seen this happen so many times in movies," said Ash. Sandshrew just stared at Ash.

"What can I do to make you trust me? All of your friends trust in me," Ash pointed out. Sandshrew looked down at the rock that they were sitting on.

Then, Sandshrew felt Ash's hand on his head and tensed. Sandshrew looked up and saw Ash looking at him with the same face that he had given Sandshrew in the Pokemon Center. All of Sandshrew's thoughts finally made sense. He realized that Ash wasn't faking his compassion. Sandshrew relaxed and finally felt that he could trust Ash.

This moment lasted for only a second, though, for as soon as Sandshrew thought that last thought, Ash's backpack began to glow. Startled, Ash threw his backpack to the ground. Ash walked over to it and unzipped the main pouch. As soon as he did, three Pokeballs flew out and released the Pokemon inside. Out came the three oddly colored legendary birds.

Sandshrew looked at Ash, and Ash looked back. Sandshrew was very confused.

"Um, yeah. I forgot to tell you what those eggs hatched into," Ash explained to Sandshrew.

Sandshrew was in disbelief. "These three **Legendary** Pokemon hatched from the Eggs?!" yelled Sandshrew, pointing at the birds. Of course, all that Ash heard was "Sand-san **Sandshrew-**shrew-sand?!"

Ash nodded, and Sandshrew stared at the Legendary Pokemon, his lower jaw dropped down to the ground. The three birds flew around for a little bit, and they stopped in a line in front of Ash. Then, using their telepathic link with Ash, they spoke to him.

'You have passed our test, Ash. You are worthy of our gifts,' Articuno told Ash. Ash was startled at the strange words that seemed to echo in his mind. He then figured out that someone was speaking telepathically with him, and realized that it had come from the Legendary Pokemon in front of him.

"Test? What test?" Ash asked them.

Zapdos spoke up. 'The test that we have set up to find the one who can take down a new threat to all human and Pokemon kind.'

"What?" Ash said. He was thoroughly confused now.

Moltres sighed, and told Ash their story. 'We come from the Land of Legends. Our superior sent us here in eggs when he saw that a great evil was trying to create super powerful Pokemon to use in world domination.' Moltres motioned at Sandshrew. 'When we arrived here, our superior told the Pokemon to escape with the eggs and to not trust humans. They obliged. Our test was to see who was strong enough to capture them, knowledgeable enough to understand their needs, and trustworthy enough to earn their trust. You are that one.'

"So I've been taking a test? When did it begin?" Ash asked, still slightly confused.

'Ever since we hatched,' said Articuno. 'And now that you have passed our test, our gifts are to be passed onto you.'

"Gifts? I get gifts? What kind of gifts?" Ash asked, who was quite enthusiastic all of a sudden. Sandshrew and the Legendary birds noticed this, and a sweat drop formed behind each of their heads.

'Um, yes, you do,' said Zapdos, snapping out of his embarrassment. They then took off flying in circles around him.

Moltres stopped in front of Ash and spoke first. 'You were able to capture the Pokemon, showing your strength. Therefore, my gift is the gift of strength of the heart and soul, which will allow you to proceed even when there seems to be no hope.'

Moltres then flapped his wings three times, and a small orb formed between his wings. The orb floated to Ash and phased into his body, making it glow brightly for a second. The glowing faded away, and Moltres returned to flying around Ash.

Next, Articuno stopped in front of Ash and took her turn to speak. 'You were able to understand that the Pokemon didn't trust humans and were able to provide for their needs, showing your knowledge. Therefore, my gift is the gift of boundless knowledge, which will allow you to understand everything you hear and everyone's needs.'

Articuno did the same thing that Moltres did, and returned to flying around Ash when she was done.

Finally, Zapdos's turn came. 'You were able to get the Pokemon to trust you through kindness and compassion. Therefore, my gift is the gift of friendship, which will allow you to befriend many people and Pokemon to assist you in your journey.'

Zapdos copied Moltres and Articuno, and then joined them in flying around Ash.

'All of our gifts have been given,' they said as they circled him. 'May they assist you in defeating the great evil that encroaches on we Legends.'

With that, they all returned to their Pokeballs and left Ash to wonder what they meant. Ash looked at Sandshrew, who was looking at Ash.

"That was definitely weird," noted Sandshrew.

"You said it," said Ash, turning to face the lake. A second passed. Then, something clicked in Ash's mind. Ash turned to look at Sandshrew, who must have realized what just happened as well, because Sandshrew was staring back at Ash.

They sat there staring at each other for about a second or two. Then, Ash ran off to tell everyone what had just happened, with Sandshrew following close behind.

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A lone figure stood in the center of a dark room, looking at a TV screen, watching the scene that Ash had just experienced. The figure was covered in a dark red cloak, and he had a hood over his head, hiding his face in darkness. The figure spoke.

"So, our eggs have hatched, have they?" he said, his voice deep and mysterious. It was the kind of voice that, if listened to for too long, could hypnotize a person. "This may be more interesting than I had expected."

"Sir, do you want me to track him down and catch him?" questioned a voice from behind him. It was his faithful right hand man. The cloaked figure didn't need to turn around to know who it was. He could recognize the voice.

The cloaked figure said, "No. Let him run around for a little more. I wish to watch what he does. If we study what he does and how he acts, we may be able to better persuade him to join us."

"As you wish, my lord," said the voice.

The cloaked figure returned his attention to the screen. The birds were no longer in sight, and the boy on the screen was running. "This is going to be very interesting, indeed," he whispered to no one in particular.

End of Part Four

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	5. Memories of Them

Author Note: Hey everyone! Guess who finally got done with his essay? That's right, ME! I'm so glad that i'm done with it. I HATE writing essays. I'm so tired right now, though, because I just finished writing this chapter today, when I started it just a couple of hours earlier. Ugh, I'm so tired! Anyway, this part is my favorite so far. Unfortunately, i feel like a dork because i was listening to Broken by Seether as I wrote the Carol's story and I started to cry. I just couldn't help it! It was so sad to write.

Now, onto the boring part: I don't own Pokemon in any way.

Terminatress owns the idea for this story and the first two parts.

Technically, Carol belongs to me, and i love the way she acts in the first half of this chapter.

And finally, I would like to say that anyone is welcome to review. I've checked and i only see two reviews posted, and that makes me sad. Please, just post your reviews. Heck, I'll even take mild flames, but not too fierce, since this is my first fiction. Now, onto the chapter!

* * *

Part Five – Memories of Them

Carol was quickly beginning to loose her fear of the strange Pokemon. Carol was thinking that since Ash was able to gain their trust, she figured that the Pokemon weren't as evil as they were said to be. Having learnt to trust Ash, the Pokemon had similar thoughts, figuring that the girl couldn't be that bad, since she had bandaged Ash.

Carol was actually beginning to really take to the little Clefairy, who she was currently playing with. The Clefairy also seemed to enjoy playing with Carol, as Clefairy was constantly clapping its tiny hands together and smiling. Carol beamed down at it. She looked up at the rest of the Pokemon to see what they were doing.

The potions that Carol had given them had definitely worked like a charm. Pikachu, Squirtle, Lucky, and Growlithe were playing in the water like before. Oddish was with Chikorita and Cyndaquil, who were also doing the sane thing that they were doing before, which was sunbathing. She saw Abra sitting next to Dratini, who was next to the water. It seemed that Abra was trying to help Dratini overcome her fear of water. When Carol had found this out, she was quite stunned. Carol chuckled at the memory.

By now, the Pokemon in the water were cheering Dratini on, which was enough for Dratini, who jumped into the water, but not after much hesitation. She resurfaced, looked around, and upon realizing that she was fine, the other Pokemon cheered for her. She swam over to them, looking quite pleased. Not only had Dratini overcome her fear, but also she was actually kind of enjoying it.

That was when Carol and the Pokemon heard someone yell, "Hey, guys!" Everyone looked over to where it had come from, and they saw Ash and Sandshrew running towards them from behind the rocks.

All of the Pokemon excluding Abra ran over to see him. Ash stopped in his tracks when he saw a stampede of his Pokemon coming straight for him. Then, all at once, they tackled him, knocking him to the ground. "Hey, guys, calm down! I surrender!" said Ash, as he held up his arms to show that he surrendered.

Pikachu was first to notice something strange. "Ash, I thought your left arm was broken. Was it not?"

Ash looked at his arm, noticing that it was no longer mangled. "Well, Pikachu, I thought it was broken, but I guess that it isn't anymore. That's cool. Now I don't have to worry about a broken arm for the next few weeks," Ash commented, observing his arm as he moved it around. His Pokemon had stopped attacking him and were now staring at him, thinking the exact same thing.

"Did you just understand me, Ash?" a stunned Pikachu asked.

Ash snapped out of watching his arm move and turned to face Pikachu. "Oh, yeah, that," said Ash, looking at all of his Pokemon, slightly embarrassed. Ash put his arms behind his head and told them about the three birds and their test (at which point, the oddly colored Pokemon besides Lucky and Sandshrew were thoroughly surprised), and about the gifts they gave him. "So to answer your question, Pikachu, yes, I did understand you," finished Ash when he was done reciting the story.

All of Ash's Pokemon just stood there and stared at him. Ash began to get nervous, and he blushed. Carol decided to walk over at that point, with her Abra close behind her. Ash was relieved, but then a new worry spread through him: how was he going to prove this to Carol?

"So, how'd it go with Sandshrew?" Carol inquired, helping Ash to his feet.

Ash reached down and patted Sandshrew's head and said, "How do you think it went?"

Carol nodded, understanding that all was well. Or, at least, that's what she thought. Ash and his Pokemon knew otherwise.

"Um, Carol?" Ash said.

"Yes, Ash? What is it?"

"There's a little bit more to it than that."

Carol was confused. What more could there be? Ash had consoled Sandshrew, and Sandshrew trusted him now. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" Ash started. He wondered what to say. He pondered telling her about the birds, but tossed the idea aside. Too risky to tell her just yet. Maybe later. Ash finally settled on a course of action.

"Something strange happened back there after I finished comforting Sandshrew. We were about to come back here when I just started glowing. I have no idea what the glowing did to me, but as soon as I was back to normal, Sandshrew said that that was weird, and I understood him. Apparently, I can understand Pokemon speech now."

Carol stood there, dumbfounded. She didn't know whether to believe him since he let her join him in his adventure or just totally burst out laughing at him. For a second, she thought that Ash might be a nut.

Ash looked at her, waiting for her reaction. When she just stood there, Ash began to get a little worried. He waved his hand in front of her eyes, saying "Hello? Anyone home?" Ash gave up after a little while. Then, a mischievous smile crossed his face as he turned to Squirtle. Squirtle looked up and saw the smile and realized that Ash was planning something. The smile spread to Squirtle as he got the idea.

Squirtle walked up to be right in front of Carol. Ash's original Pokemon backed up, knowing what was to come next. The oddly colored ones, not knowing what to do, followed suit. Squirtle took a deep breath in and let out a huge stream of water at Carol. The water hit her, and she immediately woke from her trance, and looked at herself. She was soaking wet.

She looked up to see Ash and Squirtle rolling on the ground, laughing uncontrollably, while the rest of the Pokemon were trying to keep quiet, but they weren't doing a very good job of it. They finally broke down laughing, but nowhere near as hard as Ash and Squirtle.

Carol was now emitting enough steam to make anybody who saw the steam think that someone was boiling a bathtub full of water. Her face was red with anger, and she looked as if she were about to explode. The Pokemon quickly caught note of this and stopped laughing immediately. Ash and Squirtle looked up at her and fell silent, no longer rolling around. They picked themselves up and stood there, trying their best to look like angels. Unfortunately, it didn't fool Carol.

"WHY YOU LITTLE SON OF A –" Carol began to say, but Ash cut her off before she could finish.

"Whoa there, watch the language!" Ash exclaimed. Carol was still steaming. Ash realized that the best course of action was to run. Carol followed, hot on his trail.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!" Carol screamed at the top of her lungs. Ash smirked and looked back at her, yelling, "Never!"

The Pokemon silently watched the chase. Chikorita turned to Squirtle and said, "Nice going, Squirtle."

"Hey, Ash convinced me to do it!" retaliated Squirtle.

"Ash didn't tell you to do anything!"

"But he was about to!"

"What makes you think that?"

"HELLO! Did you not see the look on his face?"

"Guys, guys, stop bickering. You sound like Ash and Misty," Pikachu interrupted. "Who knows when the next time we'll ever be able to watch Ash run for his life and enjoy it will be?"

The Pokemon agreed, and turned back to Ash, who was calling out to his Pokemon, saying, "Hey, guys? I could use a little help here! Guys? GUYS!" The Pokemon chuckled, knowing that they weren't going to help him at all.

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ONE BEATING LATER…

Ash was sitting there, moping. He touched his cheek, which was still red from Carol slapping him. The bruises that had once littered his body before the strange event with the birds had now returned. Carol was looking away from Ash with her arms folded. Ash sighed. He quickly thought about his actions, and finally concluded that it was worth it to see the look on Carol's face.

"So, you going to prove that you can really understand Pokemon, or just sit there in self pity?" Ash looked up to see Carol facing him. "What?" he quickly asked.

"I don't believe your story, so I'm asking you to prove it," Carol repeated.

"And how do you expect me to do that?" Ash questioned. Carol shrugged.

"I dunno, figure it out." Ash was extremely peeved at her. Carol didn't seem to care. She just ignored the angry face he gave her.

Ash settled down, wondering what to do. He knew that she wouldn't trust his word, and if he told Carol what his Pokemon said, Carol would just think that it was a prank. Ash was stuck. His eyes finally wandered to the Abra.

"I know!" Ash exclaimed, surprising Carol and the Pokemon. Once they were all resituated, Ash continued.

"Carol," Ash said. Carol looked up at him, hearing her name. "You tell your Abra something, and then have it say it out loud, and I'll tell you what he said."

Carol stood up and rolled her eyes. She bent down to Abra and whispered something into his ear. Abra then moved forward and clearly said, "Carol's favorite Pokemon is Clefairy." Clefairy blushed at the statement, but Ash didn't notice.

"So, tell me what Abra said," Carol said, sure that Ash couldn't understand him. Ash stared at her, and she lost some of her cockiness.

"He said that your favorite Pokemon is Clefairy."

Carol's mouth dropped. She couldn't believe it. She just stood there, not moving.

Ash walked over to her and observed her. "Crap, am I going to have to wake her up again?" he asked.

Carol snapped out of it and said, "That won't be necessary."

Ash felt a wave of relief sweep over him. "So, do you believe me now?" he asked.

"Not just yet," Carol said. Ash fell down on his face, anime style. "I need you to do it once more."

Ash stood up, mumbling angry words at her. "Got something to say to me?" Carol smirked.

"Just tell Abra the next thing that you want it to say," Ash responded, thoroughly annoyed.

"Nope, this time, I'm bringing out my other Pokemon for this one. For all I know, you could have bribed Abra to send you the sentence telepathically."

Ash was really pissed off now. However, before he could say anything, Carol tossed up a Pokeball, releasing her other Pokemon. As it came out and gave its cry, Ash's anger was replaced by wonder. He had never seen this Pokemon before. It stood on all four of its paws, and it had a green colored fur. Its head was rather long and sleek, and it had yellow stripes running under its eyes along the length of its head, as well as one on its snout. It had a short tail that was tipped in yellow fur. Ash couldn't help but notice that it was very energetic, since it immediately began to run around in circles. Ash took out Dexter to try and find more info on it, but he couldn't. Then, Carol called to it.

"Flash, come here!" The Pokemon, whose name was obviously Flash, looked up, and obediently walked over to her. She whispered something into its ear, and it looked up at her questioningly. She nodded, and it stepped forward. As it said its statement, Ash couldn't help but notice the distinctly powerful way it held itself.

"Carol has told me to say that she has always dreamed of being able to fly without riding on a Pokemon's back," the Pokemon said.

"Thanks for the info, but before I relay this on to Miss Nonbeliever here, could you please tell me what kind of Pokemon you are?"

The Pokemon was taken aback by Ash's comment, but it quickly recomposed itself and said, "I am an Electrike."

"Thank you," Ash said, turning to Carol. Ash then smirked and said, "He told me that you have always dreamed of flying without needing to ride on a Pokemon."

Carol was stunned once more. She didn't freeze like last time, but instead, she accepted it. "I guess you were right. I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Carol apologized.

"Forget about it," Ash said. "If my friend came up to me and told me that, I would be highly skeptical of them, too."

Carol nodded, and she asked, "Is there anything else that you know happened when you started glowing?"

Ash looked down, and responded, "I'm not exactly sure. All I know for sure is that I can understand Pokemon now." Carol seemed disappointed. Ash took this opportunity to ask about her Electrike.

"Hey, Carol, where'd you get that Pokemon? It told me that it was known as an Electrike. I've never heard of that kind of Pokemon before."

"Oh, well…" Carol said, as she recalled the story. "My parents and I were walking to the grocery store with a Nidoran we had recently found when we passed a guy that the Nidoran seemed to like, because he ran off after him. The man was a little startled, and when we walked up to him, he looked at us and asked us if the Pokemon belonged to us, and we said that we wanted it to be the family pet, but it wasn't working out. The man offered to trade us one of his Pokemon for it, since he could never find one himself. He showed us a picture and told us that it was very obedient and loving, and that he found it in a different region, which I think he called Hoenn. I looked at the picture and thought that it was really cool, and my parents noticed this, so they agreed and Flash has been with me since then." Carol had a look of nostalgia on her face.

"That's great, but I thought that Pokemon obtained in a trade were usually disobedient," said Ash.

"Oh, right," Carol coughed. "My parents were very good at getting Pokemon to obey them. They were top notch breeders."

"Oh, I see. So, was that your official first Pokemon?"

"Oh, no. I didn't own him until after I got Abra."

"So, how did you get Abra?" questioned Ash.

Carol's nostalgic expression suddenly disappeared. All of the memories that she had repressed in her mind escaped and filled her mind. She remembered each event with horrid vividness. She suddenly began to cry. Before Ash could say anymore, she ran off in the direction of where Sandshrew was sitting earlier. Her two Pokemon ran after her.

Ash looked at their retreating figures, and then at his Pokemon. They all shrugged, not knowing what she was feeling.

"Maybe you should go cheer her up," Lucky offered.

"Man, why am I the one who always has to cheer people up when they're upset?" Ash complained. "I suck at it!"

"Maybe because you're the only one that she can understand," commented Dratini.

"Touché," said Ash as he got up to follow Carol.



Carol was sitting hunched over, sobbing her eyes out. Abra and Flash were sitting next to her, trying to comfort her, but it wasn't doing much good. They brought up too many memories of her parents, especially Abra. She was too busy crying that she didn't notice Ash walk up to her.

"We tried everything to cheer her up, but nothing's working," said Abra. He sounded really worried. "She must be thinking about her parents."

Ash nodded, understanding that this was going to be tough. He decided that a little bit of small talk might make her come out of her depression enough to tell him what's wrong.

"I guess that this is the best place to come to let one's feelings out."

Carol jumped when she heard Ash's voice, and she suddenly looked up. Ash saw that she was really bawling badly, as her eyes were red and her cheeks and clothing were covered in tears. Ash continued his small talk, sitting down next to her. "This is exactly where Sandshrew came to let out his worries. In fact, he sat in the exact spot that you are sitting in, and I'm sitting exactly where I was sitting."

Ash laughed at the strange coincidence, and Carol gave a small smile. Ash saw the smile and stopped laughing. He turned to face Carol and asked her, "So, what's up? Why so sad all of a sudden?"

Carol stopped smiling and turned away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What happened to the Carol that was trying to kill me earlier?" Ash asked, who was seriously worried now. Carol just sat there, motionless.

"Well, I guess she's frozen again. I'd better get Squirtle," said Ash, standing up. "Oh, Squirtle!" But before he could say anymore, Carol stood up and put her hand over his mouth.

When she finally let go, Ash turned and said, "Now that's the Carol I remember!"

Carol chuckled, and returned to the rock, tears no longer staining her cheeks. Ash sat back down next to her. Ash decided to risk it again, and he asked, "So, do you feel like telling me what's wrong now?"

Carol seemed to be troubled for a second. 'Oh, what should I do? If I don't tell him, he may not trust me, but if I do tell him, he may view it as a weakness and leave me. But now that I think about it, I don't think that he would leave me because of that. And if I'm going to travel with him, then he might as well know.'

She looked at Ash, and he saw that she had come to a decision. She took in a deep breath and started her story.



"It started when my parents finally deemed me old enough at eight years old to have my first Pokemon, and they took me to a nearby field and let me use Flash to help catch a Pokemon. I entered the tall grass and wandered around. The grass reached up to my shoulders back then, so I could barely see where I was going, but I was determined to catch a Pokemon.

"After a couple of minutes, I returned to my parents, just a little discouraged. But they told me to keep at it, so I did. I returned to the grass with renewed vigor. After a few more minutes, I was discouraged again and I was about to return to my parents again. That's when everything began to spiral downward.

"As I turned around to return to my parents again, I saw someone run out from behind a tree and grab my father. He was dressed in black, but I couldn't see his face. He demanded that my father give him all the money that he had, and then when my dad refused, the man punched him in the face. I was about to cry out, but then I realized that if I did, the man would turn to see me and he might kill me. Looking back, I wish that I did scream. It might have distracted him for long enough for my dad to escape the man's hold.

"Anyway, that's when my mom screamed and hit the man, demanding that he let my dad go immediately. Of course, that didn't work, and instead of dropping my dad, he pulled out a knife. He then proceeded to stab my mother in the stomach, and then in the chest. I wanted so bad to cry out, but I couldn't; I was too afraid. When my mom was slumped on the ground, the man returned his attention to my dad. The man demanded for his money once more, but my dad still refused. The man didn't take that well.

"He stabbed my dad about five times and dropped him onto the ground with a thud. My dad couldn't do anything as the man stole his wallet. I finally found my voice and screamed. The man then noticed me and turned around. I don't remember much of how he looked, but I do remember the big red 'R' on his shirt as approached me with the knife in his hand."

"Team Rocket," Ash interrupted. Carol nodded.

"Yeah. He said, 'Well, now, I can't have you run and report me to the police, now can I?' I backed up as he approached me. Just then, an Abra jumped out from the grass behind me, and the man stopped in his tracks. Why he would be so afraid of an Abra confused me. Then I realized that the Abra was using its psychic powers to hold the man in place. I took the opportunity to have Flash unleash a spark attack on the man, who fell down and dropped the knife. As he stood up, I told Flash to tackle the man, and he was knocked even further back. This time, before he could get up, the Abra teleported the man away.

"When I was sure that he was gone, I ran over to my parents, with Flash and the Abra close behind. They were covered in blood, and they looked to be in a lot of pain. They looked up at me and my father said, 'You're a pretty good battler. I'm glad that I got to see you battle before I die.' 'You were amazing, dear. You're going to grow up to do great things. It's too bad that we won't be able to see the things that you do,' my mother added. At first, I didn't understand. Then it all clicked. 'Die? No, you can't die! Don't leave me!' I screamed. My mom looked at me and smiled. 'I'm sorry, dear, but I'm afraid that that man has injured us too much for us to be able to live through this.' I felt the tears begin to form. 'But why you? Why did it have to be you?' I said. 'I don't know, honey,' my father answered. 'I'm sure that there's some reason behind this.' 'Carol, take this,' my mom said. I looked at her and saw her holding her purse up. 'What? Why?' I asked. 'If we're going to die, then we want you to at least have some money, and since that bastard stole daddy's wallet, you should have this,' she replied. I gasped internally; I had only heard her use that word once before.

"I took the purse, and as soon as I did, my mother took the flower-shaped pendant from around her neck and held it up. 'Carol, I want you to have this, too. This pendant has our pictures on the inside of it. Take it so that you never forget about us,' she said. I took it and put it around my neck, and as I did, my mom turned and coughed up a bunch of blood. If I weren't leaning over my parents as they were dying, I might have puked. Then my dad spoke up, and he said, 'Honey, there's not much time left for us. Hug us, just one last time.' Even though they were covered in blood, I still hugged them, and said, 'Please, don't leave me.' My father looked me in the eyes and said, 'I wish that we didn't have to, but there's nothing we can do.' My mother then said, 'Dear, we love you. Don't you ever forget that. We will always love you.' They hugged me one last time, and then their arms went limp and their faces were drained of life.

"I finally let the tears fall. I couldn't hold them back any longer. I sat there, holding them, crying. The tears that fell off of my face splashed down onto their bodies and mixed with the blood. I looked at Flash and saw that he was crying, too. Even though he had only spent a year with us, it had been one of the best years of his life. I finally stood up and ran off. Flash and the Abra followed me. I finally fell down out of exhaustion, and Flash and the Abra caught up to me. I hugged Flash, who gave a low howl of sadness. The Abra looked at us and moved towards us. It placed its paw on my back as if to say 'I'm sorry.' I then saw through my blurred vision as everything around us melted away and was replaced by the walls of my room. I looked around, and saw that I was laying on my bed. I figured that the Abra had teleported us to my house. I was so sad and tired that I fell asleep almost immediately.

"When I woke up, it was dark outside, and I figured that it was just a bad dream. But then I sat up and saw the Abra lying next to me, and realized that it wasn't a dream. A new wave of sobbing overtook me. My crying woke the Abra and Flash. I held them close, and they seemed to try and comfort me. It worked, but only to the point that I could get up and gather my things. I decided that instead of continuing to live here, I would leave and find a new city and a new house to live in. There were too many memories of my parents in that house. After I had all the money that I could gather and all of my valuables and clothes in my bag, I left the house with mom's purse in hand and her pendant still around my neck.

"I first left the southern exit of the town to let the Abra return to the wild. But it refused to go, and it stayed near me, which I took as it trying to say that it wanted to stay with me, so I threw the luxury ball that my parents had given me at it, easily capturing it. I then put Flash back in its ball and put the two balls on in my back. I then went to the train and used the money to buy a one-way ticket to as far away from there as I could. The train carried me west to that city, and I decided to live in the city's park. And that's where I've been living up until the time when I met you."



Carol looked up at Ash, having finished her story. She was surprised to find him wiping away tears. He then uttered a faint chuckle. "And I thought I had it bad because I was forced to grow up without a father. How wrong was I." Carol was able to muster a small giggle, but it faded fast.

"So how old are you now?" Ash asked.

"Eleven," was Carol's reply.

"So you've been living in that park with only your Pokemon for three years?" Carol nodded.

"Who fed you?" Ash asked. "Was anyone kind enough to bring you food? Or did you have to scavenge?"

"Actually, this kind young man who seemed to be around twenty years old brought me a breakfast and a dinner every day. He wasn't able to take me in, since his apartment was so small, but he regularly brought me meals and talked to me. He also washed my clothes for me weekly."

"Well, then. If you're going to be travelling with me, we may as well tell him so that he doesn't freak when you don't show up tonight or tomorrow," Ash commented.

Carol nodded. "Yeah, let's do that. I want to thank him a final time before we leave."

Ash got up off of the rock and walked back to his Pokemon, and Carol followed behind him. Carol was glad to have shared her story with him, but she still wondered how he got her to tell him. Something about his look told her that it was OK to tell him. She wanted to think about it some more, but at that moment, Abra and Flash jumped on her, extremely happy to have their old owner back.

Ash turned to see what was going on, and saw Carol on the ground, being licked to death by Flash. Ash chuckled and let them have their happy moment. He figured that if he fell into such a deep depression like that, Pikachu would be just as happy to see him come out of it. Carol eventually pushed her Pokemon off of her and stood up. They continued back to Ash's Pokemon, feeling much happier than when they came.

End of Part Five

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* * *

So, what did you think? If you cried, you're not alone. It's just so sad! Anyway, please, Please, PLEASE comment and review! Also, if you cried or felt like crying, put a little sad face onto your review. I want to see if i am any good at writing sad parts. The fact that I cried at my own story isn't enough.


	6. Crazy People, Crazy Pokemon

A/N: Well, here it is! This is my pathetic attempt at creating comic relief. Hope you enjoy! And as always, please review!

Disclaimer: Me no own-o Pokemon-o or original-o idea-o. Idea-o belong-o to Terminatress-O. Carol is mine-o. You-o no steal-o her-o.

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Part Six – Crazy People, Crazy Pokemon

Carol was thinking. She sometimes fell into this strange void that was her brain and wouldn't come out. It was only because she had something on her mind. Usually, It was about stuff like the stars, and where they came from, and other questions about the universe. She may have been an eleven-year-old kid, but she could get pretty deep.

But this time, instead of thinking about the universe, she found herself pondering about Ash.

Carol had felt there was something strange about this guy ever since she explained to him about the Pokemon fugitives, who she had thought were dangerous.

That's another thing that she had wondered about. Carol had heard about the things the Pokemon fugitives did, and she had seen pictures from newspapers. The destruction that was portrayed was amazing. Yet this single boy named Ash could be strong enough to battle, capture, and tame them? Carol had a hard time sifting through the stories and trying to figure out if Ash had already owned them, and told them to go do those things so that he could rise as a hero when he showed that he had caught and tamed them. Before Ash comforted her, Carol had started to believe in this story.

However, when Ash talked to her, he spoke with her with such compassion and not a touch of snotty behavior that one might imagine a person who played hero to have. Ash talked to her as if he really cared. Carol started to think that Ash's story was the truth. The way he acted classified him as a normal person with no want to be glorified.

As Carol stared out into space, she walked with her Pokemon and Ash back to the rest of the group. Ash got a though, suddenly, and turned to Carol to voice it.

"Hey, Carol, do you want me to keep your story a secret from my Pokemon?" Ash questioned. Ash looked at Carol, and waited for an answer. When it didn't come, Ash asked again. "Carol, should I keep this secret?" Still no response. Ash began to wave his hands in front of Carol's face, trying desperately to get her attention.

"Ugh, does she do this often?" Ash asked Carol's Abra once he had given up trying to break her away from Coma Land. "Actually, she does do this, and quite a lot, too. She can be like this for hours, and sometimes, we worry so much that we have to jolt her awake to make sure that she isn't dead," answered a very concerned looking Abra.

"Hey, I've got something really important to ask her, so do you think that you could wake her?" inquired Ash.

"Eh, sure, why not?" answered Flash. "It's been too long since I got to have any fun."

With that, Flash built up his electricity and let it loose on Carol with a thunderbolt.

"YEEEEEEOOOOOOOW! OWOWOWOWOWOW!" screamed Carol, running around in circles. She was screeching in pain at the sudden surge of electricity that had surged through her body, leaving a couple of burns. Flash was rolling on the ground, laughing so hard that he was crying. "Oh, man! That is a HOOT! I am lovin' this!" cried the Electrike. He looked up to get another look at Carol, but instead, he got an angry glare from Abra, which made him stop laughing immediately. That Abra may be small, but it has a death glare that could easily rival the look that a Zangoose would give a Seviper.

Carol had finally calmed down enough to hear Ash's question. "Do you want me to keep your story a secret, or can I tell my Pokemon?" Ash asked.

This time, he was met with an answer. "Actually, no. Don't tell your Pokemon. I don't want too many people to know about this,"

Ash nodded, and put his hand on her back, saying, "I understand."

All of a sudden, to the surprise of both people and the two Pokemon, Ash's hand glowed, and so did all of Carol's small burns. When they stopped glowing, the burns were gone.

Ash lifted his hand and looked at it. There was nothing on it, nor did it look any different. So why did his touch heal Carol's burns?

They briefly looked at each other, and the looks on their faces told them exactly what to do. They would keep this secret, and only tell Ash's Pokemon.

They both returned to walking, and Carol fell back into her strange trance-like state. But this time, she didn't think about whether or not Ash was telling the truth. That had been sealed with her strange healing process. Instead, she wondered what else had happened to Ash when he was glowing. She stole a quick glance at Ash to see that he was wondering about something, too. She figured that he was thinking about the same thing, which was exactly what he was thinking about.

'What did those three birds do to me?' Ash thought. 'What other weird powers did they give me?'



After they had returned to Ash's Pokemon and told them that Carol was fine and that Ash could heal small injuries (demonstrating on himself after being roasted by Cyndaquil), the Pokemon tried to figure out why Carol was so depressed. When they realized that they weren't getting anywhere, they gave up. They headed back west to the city to go see this man that had been caring for Carol. The oddly colored Pokemon were all back in their balls, except for Lucky, who was in Ash's backpack. The rest of them were also in their Pokeballs, except for Pikachu. (And if I have to explain why he wasn't, then you need to just stop reading this, for you obviously don't know anything about Pokemon.)

When they finally reached the city, it was starting to turn dark. "He's probably getting really worried by now, so let's hurry to the park," Carol said. Ash nodded, and Carol led the way to the park where she had been living in for three years.

They arrived shortly, and Carol quickly scanned the park. It was a small place, with some trees and a small pond with a few fountains in it. There was a path that led through it that was lined with benches, trashcans, and some lamps, which were beginning to flicker on. She ignored the main path; Carol met with the man away from the path so that no joggers or couples would bother them.

She looked to the small pond, and there she saw the man. "There!" she exclaimed before rushing over to him. The rest of the group looked at each other and shrugged, then followed her.

As Ash got closer to the man, he started to make out some vague features: he was fairly tan, and had brown hair, which was somewhat spiky. Once Ash was nearly face to face with the man, Ash noticed that he was a tall figure, and he wore a determined face. His outfit was easily classified by the color brown, as his T-shirt was a light shade of brown, while his jacket was a much darker shade. His pants were, strangely, a dull greenish color, and his shoes were white and blue.

At seeing this man up close, Ash felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. He could swear that the man in front of him could have been Brock's twin, except this man's eyes were open. Ash all of a sudden wished he could see his friends again, and realized how much he actually missed them. Ash was brought back to reality when the man spoke.

"So, it looks as if Carol has found a new friend," said the man. "So, Carol, would you mind introducing him?"

"Oh, right, this is-" Carol began, but she couldn't finish, as she was cut off by Ash.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," he said.

"Well, aren't you full of spirit?" the man said as he started laughing. "I respect people with that kind of attitude."

"Thanks, I guess," said Ash, who was just a little confused by the man's laughing.

The man finished laughing, and then turned to Ash. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Henry. Henry Dretstone. But you can call me Tyler."

"Why Tyler?"

"I don't like my first name, and Tyler is my middle name. Since I like Tyler better, I decided to have people call me that."

"Oh."

"So, Carol, exactly who is your new friend?" Tyler asked.

"I'm a Pokemon trainer, and I'm in Johto collecting badges so that I can enter the Johto League," Ash answered for Carol.

"Pika pi!" added Pikachu, which Ash understood as, "You know it!"

The man laughed again. While he was laughing, Ash whispered to Carol, "Is this guy always this joyful?"

"Unfortunately, he is," Carol said with a sigh.

"Man, I'm starting to think that your real name is Carol, since you keep answering every question a ask Carol," Tyler said, wiping a tear from his eye. The rest of them sweatdropped, and Ash fell flat on his face, anime style.

"Now that I'm done joking, I have to say, I really like your spirit, Ash. Just the way you talk makes me know right away that you're a good trainer," commented Tyler.

"Really?" Ash asked. Tyler nodded. "Thanks."

"Now, where have you been, Carol? You were supposed to meet me here an hour ago," said Tyler, his voice becoming a little stern.

"Oh, well, I've been with Ash. He's going to let me come with him on his journey, since his friends had to return home just recently," Carol answered, trying not to sound like she was a little intimidated.

"Hahaha!" Tyler laughed. "Well, is that so?" Both Carol and Ash nodded. Tyler continued to laugh, and everyone else began to become even more embarrassed to be seen with him.

When Tyler finally finished laughing, he turned back to face Ash. "So, how did you two meet?" he inquired.

"Well," Carol began, "it started this morning. After you had left, I walked around the city, trying to find something exciting to do. When I passed by the Pokemon Center, I saw that there was a large commotion. I decided to check it out. I figured out that it was just a crowd of reporters trying to get info about the Pokemon fugitives. As I watched, I saw Ash and his Pikachu standing next to the mob of reporters, and Ash said, 'Boy, Pikachu. What was that all about?' That's when I told him, 'I can tell you what that was about.' I then explained to him about what the reporters wanted and who the Pokemon fugitives were."

"After she finished explaining," Ash butted in, "she challenged me to a battle. I accepted, and we left the Pokemon Center to a place that would be better for a battle. We began, and I ended up beating Carol, and somewhat easily. No offence, Carol."

"None taken."

"Anyway, after I beat her, I told her that we should probably return to the Pokemon Center and get our Pokemon healed. As we did, Carol was quietly admiring me, and when we reached the Center, we dropped off our Pokemon and sat down while we waited for them to be healed. In that time, Carol finally told me that she wanted to become stronger, like me. She asked if she could come with me on my journey, and told me that she didn't have parents, and so she wasn't too anchored to this city. But before we left, she remembered about you, and here we are, telling you that she'll be traveling with me from now on."

As Ash finished the story, Tyler stood there, contemplating what Ash had just said. Then Tyler looked Ash in the eyes, and started laughing. Ash and Carol looked at each other, both of them wondering what the crap this guy was laughing at.

As he quieted down, he managed to say, "You really expect me to believe that? Oh, that's rich."

"What?" Ash and Carol said in unison.

"I can tell that you're lying," replied Tyler, who was now completely done laughing.

"How?" both Ash and Carol yelled, extremely surprised.

"Wow, you two sound like you're living off of the same thought system or something." Ash looked at Carol, who was looking at Ash. They then quickly turned away and both shouted, "We are not!" They then whirled to face each other again, and this caused another uproar from Tyler, as well as a few snickers from Pikachu.

As Tyler finished laughing, again, he returned to the issue at hand. "I can tell that you're lying because of the fact that one, you never made eye contact with me during that whole story, two, you made a couple of nervous gestures with your hands, and three, your eyes were not only not focused on me, but they were looking up to the right, which helps stimulate your imagination, and that aids in lying. Plus, you gave it away when you yelled out 'How?' with those surprised looks on your faces."

Ash couldn't believe it. This man somehow knew that Ash wasn't telling the truth, and all because of simple eye and body movements?

"So, you going to tell me the real story or not?" said Tyler in a voice that made him seem extremely impatient.

"Uh…" Ash started to say.

"And don't even think about lying again, because we all know how that will work out."

Ash hated to admit it, but he had been beaten. He sighed. "Well, I guess I have to tell you, but I can't tell you here. There are too many people that could overhear us."

"OK, then. Let's go to my house. I'm the only one who lives there, besides my Gligar."

"Nice. How'd you get it?" Ash asked.

"Well, I guess I could tell you during the walk to my house."

And with that, they began walking to Tyler's house.



"And since then, me and Gligar have been best friends," finished Tyler. "And this is my apartment," he added, noticing that the group had reached its destination.

"Wow, that's amazing! You found him with a group of circus people and were able to tell that he was that unhappy?" Carol summarized. Tyler nodded. "I wish that how I met my Abra was as nice a story as that…" Carol trailed off.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Tyler.

"Um, let's not talk about this," interrupted Ash. "It's a little bit of a bad memory for Carol."

"Oh, OK. I understand," said Tyler, looking down at Carol, who was staring out into space. "Um, is she…"

Ash noticed that Tyler was looking at a spaced out Carol. Ash laughed, saying, "Yeah, she's fine. She actually does this quite often."

Tyler let out another hearty laugh, which startled Carol back to reality. Once Tyler had finished, Ash turned to ask him a question.

"Hey, Tyler, in your story, you made it seem like the Gligar was a little crazy. Did you mean to make it sound like that?"

"Um, well…" Tyler started, trying to figure out the best way to explain it. "Maybe I should just show you what I mean." Tyler then turned to face the door and began to unlock it. Ash stood in front of the door as Tyler swung it open.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" was the first thing that Ash heard, but before he could figure out who said it, a large purple blur flashed across Ash's view, and then all he could see was purple as he felt something cling to his face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF! IT'S TRYING TO EAT MY FACE!" screamed Ash as he took off running up and down the hallway, yanking the thing that had attached itself to his head. Tyler burst out laughing as he fell to the floor. Carol looked at Ash, trying to suppress the rising laughter inside, but having an increasingly hard time doing so with each second of watching him running around. Pikachu slapped himself in the forehead, thinking, 'How did I ever come to befriend this idiot?'

The ruckus in the hallway caused many neighbors to stick their heads out of their door, trying to figure out what moron was screaming so loudly at this time of day. However, when they saw Tyler rolling on the ground laughing with his door open and another boy running around trying to pry a purple blob off of his face, they knew all that they needed to know and returned to their apartments. This happened every time that Tyler invited a new friend to his apartment.

After a few minutes, Ash finally calmed down, and Tyler had regained his composure enough to help. He walked over to Ash and called out, "Gligar, please get off of my friend's face." The Gligar looked up at his trainer and did what he was told, flying up and landing on top of Tyler's head. Ash was left lying on the floor, panting.

"Now do you understand? My Gligar is a bit of a nutcase," Tyler calmly explained to the tired Ash.

"Is that thing on drugs or something?" Ash asked, trying to stand. Tyler laughed briefly and extended a hand, helping Ash to his feet.

"No, I keep any sort of drug as far from him as I can. Who knows what they would do to him! Now, let's get you something to drink. After screaming bloody murder like that, you must be parched!"

"Sure, just as long as the Gligar won't attack me for it," said Ash, trying desperately to recover after that close encounter with a Pokemon on a never-ending sugar high.

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"It's getting dark outside. You should probably stay here for the night," offered Tyler, his Gligar still sitting on his head. "I've got enough room for all of us, and enough food to cook for two extra people and multiple other Pokemon."

"Um, well…" Ash began to say, surveying the apartment. It was fairly small, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a main room. Ash really didn't want to stay here; it was just too small for all of them. "It's not that we don't like your apartment, it's just that… we don't want to intrude on you."

"No, no, I don't mind. It's quite all right. Please, be my guest."

"Well, OK. Thanks," Ash said, still a little unsure. Carol, however, marveled at the idea of sleeping inside for once. She hadn't slept on a bed in three years.

"No problem!" said Tyler. "Now, before I begin making dinner, let's discuss how you two really met."

Ash looked quickly at Carol, who nodded. Ash then turned to face Tyler again and sighed. He knew that there was absolutely no way out of this. "It's a little hard to explain, but let me first tell you that the story up to the point where Carol challenged me to a battle is true. After that…" Ash recounted the entire story of how Carol and he met, stopping before Team Rocket showed up.

"Well, is that so?" Ash and Carol both nodded.

"Hmm… you didn't show any of the signs of lying, but just to be safe, show me the Pokemon fugitives."

"What? Why?" Ash yelled.

*Sigh* "I already told you, just to be safe," Tyler said.

"And if I don't?"

"You'll have to leave immediately."

Ash truthfully didn't mind, knowing that they had already told him that Carol was going to be with him, but then he saw the look on Carol's face. She hadn't slept in a house since she left her house. He sighed, knowing that he had been beaten. "Alright, here they are."

Ash pulled out the Pokeballs that held the oddly colored Pokemon and let them out. He also picked up his bag and opened the large pouch that Lucky was sitting in and pulled him out.

They looked around, taking in their new environment. They quickly saw that there was a strange man with a Gligar on his head. They tensed up, thinking that the man was a threat, but Ash's calming voice told them otherwise.

"Whoa, guys, he's cool! He's a friend of Carol's," he said.

They looked at Ash, then at Carol, and then back to Tyler. Trusting Ash's word, they loosened up and began to explore the apartment, making various comments.

Tyler examined them as they dispersed. "Well, well, the man holds true. I guess that means that you can stay here for tonight. Now, I'm going to go cook dinner. It'll be ready in a little while. In the mean time, relax, let out your Pokemon."

With that, Ash let out the rest of his Pokemon, excluding the three Legendary Birds for obvious reasons. Carol followed suit. After Carol had done so, she rushed over to Tyler and asked, "Can I help you cook?"

Tyler shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? I could always use some help here. What about you, Ash?"

Ash looked up, thought for a second, and told him, "Nah, I've been out on the road for a couple of days now, and I'd kind of like to relax for just a little bit."

"Suit yourself."

"Thanks."

When Tyler and Carol had gone into the separate kitchen, Ash called his Pokemon over, as well as Carol's Pokemon and Tyler's Gligar. Ash really wanted to discuss a couple of things with his Pokemon. "Hey, guys, first off, this is Gligar, and he belongs to Tyler, the man you saw earlier."

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEY! I LIKE SHINY STUFF!" Gligar exclaimed.

Lucky looked over at the strange Gligar, and then up at Ash. "Why is this guy so weird? Is he high, or just on a sugar rush?"

Ash shrugged. Gligar turned to see the Eevee, and looked at his eyes. "Your eyes are shiny," Gligar stated. Lucky looked at him as if he were looking at a retard, which wasn't far from the truth.

"Well, now, aren't you the super genius," Lucky commented, practically foaming at the mouth with sarcasm. "And why does that concern you?"

"I LIKE SHINYYYYYYYYYYY!" yelled Gligar, jumping up and attacking Lucky's face in the same way that he attacked Ash's face.

"HELP! I'M GETTING RAPED! GET HIM OFF!" screamed Lucky. Everyone laughed at the poor Eevee's fate. Ash finally felt bad for Lucky, knowing how it feels like to have a psychotic purple… bat… scorpion… thing try to eat your face off.

Ash pried the Gligar off and sat it down as far away from Lucky as he possibly could. He returned to his seat, picked Lucky up, and tried to get him to calm down. But all that Lucky could do was twitch and occasionally mutter, "So… much… purple…"

Oddish finally piped up and asked, "Why the heck is that Gligar so crazy?"

"PEANUTS!" yelled the deranged Pokemon, who was now flying around the room at speeds that would put a jet plane to shame.

"Well, Tyler told me about how he found Gligar, so maybe that will hold some answers as to why Gligar acts as if he were a little 7-year-old boy on a perpetual sugar high. Shall we begin?"

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As Ash was finishing his story, Tyler was busy in the kitchen. He normally would have been rushed to cook for guests, but with Carol helping him, he could actually relax while cooking. Plus, with Gligar in the other room, cooking was so much easier. Who knew that it would be so much simpler to cook without a purple bat thing flying every which way and running into everything?

However, since he had nothing to do while he waited for the chili to finish simmering, he sat down in a chair that was situated in such a way that he could see into the next room. He sat there, trying to relax and process the information that had been forced into his brain by this black haired trainer and this brunette orphan.

As he settled, he couldn't help but hear the end of the story that Tyler hadn't finished telling just seconds ago. He saw that the Pokemon looked very surprised, excluding Pikachu, who had heard the story before, and they all turned towards Gligar, who was bouncing up and down crazily. Tyler sighed. 'Why can't Gligar ever set still?' he thought. Then the green Sandshrew made a comment, at which Ash laughed at.

"No, he's not on any sort of drug. At least, that's what Tyler said," replied Ash. Tyler was a little bit more interested now. How did Ash know what that Sandshrew said?

"Fairy?" said a very inquisitive dark purple Clefairy.

"Hmm… I don't know. You could be right. Maybe it was just too much time around clowns and other nuts," Ash replied. Tyler was really confused now. 'How does he know what his Pokemon are asking?' thought Tyler. But before he could listen to anymore of the conversation, the timer went off, signaling that the chili was done cooking. With that, Tyler stood up to turn off the stove, still wondering about Ash. He made a mental note to ask Ash at dinner.

'This kid's got a secret, and I'm gonna find out what it is.'

End of Part Six

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	7. Common Denominator

A/N: From now on, I've decided to write the story in Ash's viewpoint. It makes it easier to do the translations. I will put a note in the story when the viewpoint changes.

Disclamer, blah blah blah, I don't own Pokemon, blah blah blah, original idea is Terminatress's, blah blah blah, Carol and Tyler are mine, blah blah blah. Ugh, I HATE these things.

And as always, please, Please, PLEASE review! Seeing positive feedback makes me write faster, knowing that there are people out there who enjoy my writing. And why am i updating at 1:30 in the morning? Because I can, that's why. Also, I think better at night. Less noise surrounding me.

* * *

Part Seven – Common Denominator

"We need a common enemy to unite us." - Condoleezza Rice

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"Hey everyone, dinner's ready!" I heard from the kitchen. Everyone looked up and dashed off to the kitchen, ready to eat. Gligar was there first, which is obvious since he was on a perpetual sugar rush that never seems to die down.

"OK, I'll be there in a sec!" I called back as I stood up. I walked into Tyler's small kitchen, smelling the amazing aroma that filled it. I looked at the table and noticed that Carol and Tyler were already sitting down and eating their bowls of chili.

"Ooh, chili! Cool!" I said, sitting down and immediately picking up my spoon.

"Careful, Ash, it's still very-" Carol said as I shoved a large spoonful of chili into my mouth. The second I did, I wished I hadn't.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOT! HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled, the chili burning my tongue, cheeks, and the rest of the inside of my mouth.

"Hot," Carol finished, smacking herself in the forehead. Tyler was going ballistic, and so were all of the Pokemon.

I frantically reached for the nearest glass of water, and poured the entire thing down my throat, trying to put out the fire inside my mouth that the chili had started. Finally, the chili was down, and the burning seized. I sat there panting, looking at Carol, then at Tyler, who still wasn't done laughing. I caught a glimpse of Pikachu and Dratini laughing their asses off (which is kind of impossible, seeing as Dratini doesn't have an ass), and Dratini asked, "Is he always this stupidly rash?"

"Unfortunately for him, yes. However, for us, it means that we always have something to laugh at!" answered Pikachu, arousing a new wave of laughter from the Pokemon. I gave them all a death glare that would have made Misty proud, and they all stopped.

Tyler finally stopped as well, as he turned to see me glaring at my Pokemon and he spoke up. "Maybe we should get you an ice cube or two for that."

"No, I got it. Growlithe, could you help me cool this down?" I said before Tyler could get up. This really confused Tyler and Carol, both of them wondering what Growlithe would do, seeing as Growlithe were normally fire types.

Growlithe looked at me, then at the chili, then at the little amount of water left in the cup I was holding. He then took in a deep breath and let out a small ice beam into the cup, instantly freezing the water. I took the ice chunk that was formed and placed it in my chili.

Tyler and Carol were amazed. "But… how? I though that Growlithe were fire types?" Tyler managed to say.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think that the attacks that these guys use has to do with their colors. Sandshrew, being green, uses grass type attacks. Oddish, having red leaves, uses fire type attacks," I explained.

"And Growlithe, being a light blue, uses ice type attacks," Carol finished. I nodded, and Tyler looked slightly amazed.

"Well, well. Whoever created these Pokemon must have a huge access to some amazing technology," Tyler said, and I looked up.

"Wait a second, I thought some power hungry breeding company bred them to use in world domination," I said.

Tyler laughed. "That's just a cover up story. I think that there's some guy out there who hired a bunch of crazy scientist guys to create these guys as an experiment, but they managed to escape," Tyler explained.

All of a sudden, the six Pokemon shuddered. I looked down at them to see them all shivering. "Well, where ever it was that these guys came from, it must have given them bad memories," I said. "They're shaking over here just hearing us talk about it. Maybe we should talk about something different."

Tyler and Carol nodded, and our conversation turned to other matters, and the Pokemon returned to eating, as did we.

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After dinner, I sat back in my chair, completely full. The food kind of reminded me of Brock's cooking. It was really good, but it still couldn't surpass Brock's amazing culinary skills. I looked down to see Pikachu and the other Pokemon in a similar state.

"Oh, man, what a meal, huh Pikachu?" I asked.

"That was really amazing, but I think that Brock's cooking is still better."

I laughed, glad to hear that I wasn't the only one missing my old friends. "Me too, buddy, me too."

"Me too what?" I heard Tyler say. I turned up to face him, trying to figure out how to explain this without telling him the truth.

"Oh, it's just that Pikachu looks really full, and I was telling him that I am, too," I lied, hoping that he wouldn't see through it this time.

He looked skeptical for a moment, but seemed to let it go.

"I agree with Pikachu, that was really good, but Brock's is still better," I heard Cyndaquil say, knowing that he said it without needing to look. After talking to your Pokemon and hearing English for a while, you begin to tell that each has it's own unique accent.

"I think that they all like your cooking, Tyler," I commented, chuckling.

Tyler laughed as well, and turned to look at the Pokemon, saying, "Well, I thank you for your kind remarks." The Pokemon began to laugh at this, and so did Carol.

Once the laughter had died down, I heard Tyler say, "You seem really close to your Pokemon. How is it that you seem to understand your Pokemon so well?"

I froze for a second, thinking that he had figured it out, but when I looked at him, I realized that it was just a friendly question. "Well, I guess that it has to do with the fact that we've been through so much together during my adventures with them," I said, hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell that there was something more, since I technically was telling the truth.

He nodded, and seemed to buy it, but then he said, "That would normally be true, but I know that it's more than just that. I can tell that my Gligar is happy or sad by just looking at him, since he's been with my on my own adventure, but I've never been able to tell without looking at him. I also overheard your conversation with your Pokemon in the living room. You were able to understand what they were asking and you answered them. You're hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is."

'Aw, crap. How do I escape this one?' I thought. I turned to my Pokemon, hoping that they might have a solution. They were in the same predicament that I was in. I turned to Carol, hoping that she might have something, but she was dumbfounded at how Tyler had figured it out. I sighed. 'I guess I'll just tell him what I told Carol.'

"Alright, you win. The truth is that I can understand Poke-speech. Something strange happened that allowed me to understand them, but I'm not exactly sure what."

"So, tell me what happened," demanded Tyler, who wasn't stunned in the least. I was taken aback seeing that he wasn't confused, but then I realized that he heard me talking with my Pokemon, and I guessed that he just came to the right conclusion. I opened my mouth to speak, but Carol told him for me.

"Well, Ash told me that he had just finished bringing Sandshrew up out of its depression, and he was about to return to the rest of the group. As he stood up, he began to glow, like a Pokemon does when it evolves. When Ash finished glowing, he looked no different, but he could understand his Pokemon."

"And do you know what caused the glowing?" Tyler asked, not surprised at all. He was acting almost as if he dealt with things like this every day.

Carol and I both shook our heads no, and Tyler relented on his questions, trying to absorb and make sense of what he had heard. We stared at him, and he finally spoke.

"Wow, Ash, I knew that you were different when I met you, but now I can see that you're crazy!"

I fell out of my chair and flat on my face. All of the Pokemon chuckled, while Carol burst out laughing.

I pulled myself up to face Tyler. I was really angry now. "What do you mean by I'm crazy?!" I yelled.

"None of this could ever happen. You're making it all up! A kid who talks to Pokemon. Yeah, right!"

"What do you mean by I'm making it up?! You heard me yourself when I was talking to all of the Pokemon in the living room!" I could feel my face turning red with anger.

"You told them the story, and when they said something, you made up your own questions and answered them, as if you were answering your Pokemon's question," Tyler said with a straight look on his face.

"Ugh, I give up! If I can't reason with you, then I guess that I'll have to prove it."

"How?"

"The same way I proved it to Carol. Tell your Gligar to say something that only you two know. I'll tell you what he said, and then you'll see that I'm not lying."

"OK, but if you're relying on getting lucky, then you're in for humiliation," Tyler said before calling over Gligar. He proceeded to whisper something into Gligar's ear, and then Gligar flew up into the air.

"HEY GUYS! I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY! I've been told by Tyler to tell you that he originally had two other Pokemon, which were an Espeon and a Lanturn," the Gligar said. "I miss them…"

Gligar seemed to mourn for a few seconds, and he actually acted close to normal. But, as we all know, blissful moments like this can't last forever, and soon enough, Gligar was back to acting completely nuts.

I turned to face Tyler, who was still acting confident. I hate to break his confidence, but he asked for it.

"He said that you originally owned a Lanturn and an Espeon as well as Gligar. Am I correct?"

Tyler went wide-eyed. His entire confident look just shattered as his mouth went from a small smirk to a gaping hole. It reminded me of how that Totodile looked when it opened its mouth.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said. I expected him to apologize for acting the way he did, but he just sat there doing nothing, just like Carol.

"Um, Tyler?" I said, snapping my fingers, trying to get his attention.

"Huh, what?" he said, finally returning to the land of the living. "What happened?"

"Um, let's see, how to explain… You kind of zoned out when I correctly relayed what you told Gligar what to say, and I snapped my fingers, and now you're awake," I told him.

"Oh, right… So I guess you were telling the truth. Sorry about not believing you," Tyler said.

"Meh, it's nothing," I said. "At least it doesn't take you two tries to convince," I added, whispering into his ear, looking at Carol to make sure she wasn't paying attention.

Fortunately, she wasn't. She was too busy trying to get Gligar to put poor little Lucky down. He had apparently swooped down and picked Lucky up for the same reason that he attacked Lucky.

"Why does he do that?" I asked.

"I truthfully have no idea what-so-ever. It's either that Gligar really likes to do that because he likes someone, or because he gets overexcited when meeting new people. Or it could be that he's just mentally retarded."

"Nice. Your first Pokemon is a mentally retarded circus escapee that loves attacking people's faces for no apparent reason and shiny things."

"Shiny things?" Tyler inquired.

"Oh, yeah, during our little conversation in the living room, Gligar yelled out that it likes shiny stuff. Then it said that Lucky's eyes were shiny, and then Gligar attacked Lucky's face," I explained.

"Maybe that's why he attacks things! Because they're shiny!"

"Then why did he attack my face?"

"That, my friend, is a mystery that I believe no one can solve. It may be even greater than the mystery behind the meaning of life," Tyler said, with a mock sophisticated look on his face.

I looked at him, and we both burst out laughing.

Our laughing got the attention of one very frustrated Carol and one extremely crazy Gligar. Carol got even more angry and started shouting, "WHY ARE YOU TWO LAUGHING?!?!?! GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!!!! YOU TWO ARE SO LAZY!" And with that, we began to laugh even harder.

"Is it just me, or does she look even funnier when she's pissed off?" Tyler asked.

"It ain't just you, she looks so hilarious!" I managed to say between laughs.

"WHY YOU! GET OVER HERE SO I CAN PUMMEL YOU UNTIL THERE ISN'T ANYTHING LEFT TO PUMMEL!" screamed an overly pissed Carol. Tyler and I looked at each other, realizing that we were about to die, and then we both took off like rockets. Carol gave up on the Gligar and turned to chase us.

At this point, Gligar turned and saw that he was no longer being chased. Instead, he saw that Carol was now chasing Tyler and me. "YAY! A CHASE SCENE!" he yelled, turning to follow us with Lucky still in his hold.

"LET GO OF ME!" Lucky screamed.

"NEVER! YOU ARE MY SHINY TO HOLD FOREVER AND EVER!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" yelled Lucky, struggling to get free. However, Gligar just seemed to tighten his grip on Lucky.

The chase had been going on for at least a minute now, and Tyler was beginning to tire. Strangely, I wasn't. I guess that's what walking a couple of miles every day does to you.

*Pant, pant, pant* "I can't last much longer, Ash," Tyler said, acting dramatic. "Go on… without me." He dropped to the floor, exhausted.

I turned to see Carol catch up to him. Faking panic, I yelled, "Tyler, NOOOOO!"

I looked up to see Gligar and Lucky flying above Carol, and saw that Lucky was finally breaking free of Gligar's grip. Lucky was about to fall. Above Carol. Right above Carol. Right over her head. (If you don't see the hint by now, I suggest that you go get your brain examined by professionals to make sure that it is still functional.)

Like I was saying, Lucky had finally broken out of Gligar's grip only to realize that he was in mid-air. He immediately began to fall, landing right on top of Carol head. Carol was knocked out by Lucky, since he landed with his skull hitting her skull, and she collapsed onto Tyler. Lucky rolled to the ground, just a little shaken up, but he was fine.

Unfortunately for Tyler, he had felt the entire weight of Carol as she fell on his back. I soon noticed this, and I went to pick Carol up. Tyler stood up and helped me move her to the nearest chair. She was fine, but she had a nasty bump on the top of her head.

"Well, now, it seems that your Eevee has an incredibly thick skull to be able to knock Carol out," Tyler commented.

"WHAT! GET OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!" yelled Lucky, incredibly angry at Tyler's comment. The other Pokemon and I started to chuckle. Lucky turned to us with a glare that said don't mess with me or you're dead. They immediately shut up, but I thought, 'What could a little Eevee do to me?'

As it turns out, that little Eevee was very strong, and it turned to face me, a shadow ball forming in its mouth. Before I could say anything, Lucky launched the shadow ball and it hit me in the chest. That sent me flying into the couch behind me. I hit the couch with a loud thud, and I felt a lingering pain in my chest, where Lucky had hit me.

Tyler ran over to see if I was OK, but I said, "Don't worry about me. I've taken multiple lightening related attacks from Pikachu. If I were you, I'd worry about apologizing to the Eevee that's about to beat you up."

He turned to see Lucky staring at him. If looks could kill… Well, if that were true, Misty would have killed me a long time ago.

"Um… Please don't kill me, Lucky. I didn't mean it…"

Lucky didn't seem satisfied, and he began to create another shadow ball. At this, Tyler started pleading for his life.

"No! I take it back! You don't have a thick skull! Just don't kill me!" Tyler yelled, down on his knees.

'What a drama queen,' I thought, rolling my eyes.

Lucky took his apology this time and let the shadow ball dissipate. Tyler let out a sigh of relief.

"Way to ham it up, Tyler," I heard someone say, and turned to see that Carol had regained consciousness.

"Well, look who decided to leave the dead and join us," I said, grunting as I got up off of the couch, rubbing my chest.

"What's wrong with you?" Carol asked.

"Lucky launched a shadow ball at his chest," Tyler answered for me.

Before she could say anything about it, I spoke up and said, "Don't worry, I take stuff like that from Pikachu on a daily basis. Of course, Pikachu uses electricity instead of shadow balls."

Carol looked at Pikachu, who was rubbing the back of his head with his paw.

"It's kind of a habit. Whenever he acts stupid, I shock him to get him to calm down," Pikachu said. Of course, neither Carol nor Tyler understood him.

"Um, Ash? What did he say?" Carol asked.

"He said that whenever I act stupid, he zaps me to calm me down."

"Don't see why he isn't constantly zapping you…" Carol muttered quietly. Unfortunately for her, I heard it.

"Hey!" I yelled, starting to chase her. Pikachu sighed, thinking, 'Just when I think that Carol won't be like Misty, this happens.' He prepared a thundershock and zapped both of us, instantly halting the chase. I was able to shake it off, being used to it, but Carol wasn't so lucky. She fell to the ground, unconscious, static electricity jumping off of her body.

"Nice one, Pikachu," I said.

"I try."

"Great, now we have to wait for her to wake up again. Now what?" Tyler said.

"Well, you could tell me more about your adventure. I'd like to hear more about how crazy your Gligar acted while you traveled with it. I'd also like to know where the Espeon and Lanturn that Gligar spoke of."

Tyler stiffened up. I sensed this and asked him if anything was wrong.

"They aren't with me anymore."

"You mean that they're… Dead?"

"Hell if I know," Tyler said, throwing his arms into the air.

"Well then, what happened to them?"

"Well…

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Tyler's POV:

It started when I was walking into Goldenrod City. Back then, I was also on a quest to collect all of the gym badges so that I could enter the Johto League. I only had three Pokemon: Gligar, Espeon, and Lanturn. But I was so close to them that they were all that I had needed to get that far.

It was starting to get dark, and I had just arrived, Gligar on my head. I walked through the city and eventually came to the Gym. It was already closed for the night, so I headed off to the Pokemon Center.

I rented a room that night, planning to challenge the gym the next day. I entered my room and let out my Pokemon, like I always do. We played for a little bit, and then we went to sleep. Lanturn was in the bathtub, Espeon was at the foot of the bed, and Gligar was resting on my pillow.

I finally was able to drift to sleep at around 10:30. Unfortunately, a loud bang followed by the building shaking came a few minutes later, waking my Pokemon and me up instantly. I got up and ran to the bathroom to see if Lanturn was OK, Espeon and Gligar behind me. Luckily, she was fine.

Then I heard footsteps in the hall. They were strangely loud, and I could tell that there were multiple people and that whoever was making them was moving fast. I had Espeon create a barrier around Lanturn, which picked her up as well as the water around her. This would let her attack, but still allow her to breathe easily.

I opened the door, and we cautiously entered the hall. There I saw a horrible sight. Doors were kicked down, and parts of walls were missing. Fellow guests were lying on the floor, knocked out. People in black uniforms with a red 'R' on the chest ran up and down the halls, carrying nets with Pokemon in them. One of them spotted me.

He held up a strange looking gun and pointed it at my Pokemon. Before I could do anything, he launched it, releasing a huge net, tethered to a string that attached it to the gun. The net ensnared my Espeon and my Lanturn, reeling them in. I ran after them but the man launched a dart at me, which knocked me out cold.

When I came to, Gligar was sitting on my chest with a sad look on its face. I looked around to see that I was in a hospital room. I sat up, and Gligar jumped off my chest. At first, I wondered why I was here, and then the events that occurred in the Center returned to me. I knew that there was nothing that I could do to save my Pokemon since I didn't know where that man took them, and I felt horrible about it.

From then on, I gave up Pokemon training, because any Pokemon training reminded me too much of the days that I used to train with Espeon and Lanturn.

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Ash's POV:

"Wow, that's really sad. You had gotten so close to them, and then they get yanked away from you," commented Carol. I just sat there, unable to say anything. I couldn't imagine if my Pokemon were stolen from me.

"How long ago did this happen?" I asked.

" About ten years ago, and I still miss them."

That hit me like a bullet. He had lost two of his partners ten years ago and he still feels horrible.

"And you said people with red 'R's on their chest took them?"

Tyler nodded. "Yeah, and that's the only thing that stood out."

"I know who took your Pokemon. It was Team Rocket," I said. Carol's head snapped up, and Tyler slowly looked at me.

"Who are they?" Tyler asked.

"They're a bunch of evil people who steal Pokemon and rob people to better themselves. They were the ones who took away your Espeon and Lanturn."

"Why do they do that?"

"Truth is, nobody knows for sure. They just do."

"I think that their leader is just a jerk who had a crappy life and is using Team Rocket to make other people's lives worse," Carol added. She seemed really upset.

"What's with you?" Tyler asked.

"Some Team Rocket thug killed my parents and tried to kill me."

"Oh," Tyler said. He looked at the ground, knowing that Carol had it worse than he did.

That's when I realized something. Something that would unite us in a common goal.

"You know, now that I think of it, we have a kind of common denominator," I suddenly said. The two of them looked at me, as if to say Please explain. The Pokemon had similar looks on their faces.

"Think of it. We all have something against Team Rocket. They killed Carol's parents. They stole Tyler's Pokemon. And I've seen some of the worst things that they can do. Plus, I have to constantly deal with the two that keep trying to steal Pikachu."

"Yeah, you're right. We need to stop these guys and keep them from screwing with anyone else's life," Tyler said. Carol and the Pokemon nodded.

"By the way, Ash, what exactly did you mean when you said that you've seem some of the worst things that they can do?" Carol asked.

"Well, do you remember ever seeing anything in the news about some strange lab created Pokemon holding trainers hostage on an island?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah! I remember that. Something about a Pokemon that called itself Mewtwo that thought it was better than any trainer," Tyler said.

"I was there. I experienced the destruction that it and its army of Pokemon clones created. And I was actually dead for a while when I tried to stop it and got caught in-between Mewtwo and its counterpart, Mew."

"Wait, I thought that Mew was just a legend?" said Carol.

"Nope, it was real. And Mew was the basis for Mewtwo's DNA. Anyway, I got caught between them right as they both fired their most powerful attacks. The attacks turned my body to stone, but somehow, the tears of the Pokemon brought me back. It made Mewtwo finally stop fighting and retreat to live in peace."

"Wow…" Carol said. "That's amazing and all, but what does this have to do with Team Rocket?"

"Team Rocket created Mewtwo. Then it broke free and nearly killed me."

"So Team Rocket's creation almost killed you?" asked Tyler. I nodded. "Dang."

"I've taken Team Rocket lightly for the most part since the idiots who keep following me are too easy to beat. But now, I can't sit by and watch them destroy the lives of others. It's time that they are stopped," I said with a note of finality. Everyone else nodded, and that was that. We were now united to stop Team Rocket.

It was our common denominator, and it was the enemy that brought us together and united us as one.

End of Part Seven

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Thanks for reading! And don't forget to leave your reviews below!----}\/


	8. Nightmares

A/N: Hey everyone! Today was a snow day for me, and that allowed me to finish this chapter. Yay for snow! Also, just want to say that I am really appreciative of those of you who are reviewing. Thanks for all of the feedback!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN POKEMON! Sheesh! Who the heck out there would think that I do? Also, I don't own the original idea, that is Terminatress's. But Carol and Tyler are mine. They're mine, ALL MINE! MUAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHA! MUAHAHA-cough-cough-cough! Um, yeah, so, this is awkward. So, let's get to the story! And don't forget to review!

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Part Eight – Nightmares

"Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry.  
Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true.  
Mother's gonna put all her fears into you." – Pink Floyd

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After I told my story, it was settled. Tyler would join us and we would travel to try and find out where Team Rocket was hiding. However, we had absolutely no idea what we would do when we found them. But we would think of that when the time came. For now, it was getting really late.

The rest of the night went like this. Carol, Tyler and I discussed ideas on what we could do when we found Team Rocket and how we could find them in the first place. The Pokemon put in their ideas every once in a while. Unfortunately, at the end of the discussion, we had gotten a grand total of zero ideas.

We finally gave up around 10 o' clock and decided that it was time to sleep. Tyler decided to let Carol have the bed, since she hadn't slept in a bed in around three years. That and the fact that Carol kept bugging him over and over again until Tyler finally broke and gave her the bed. Tyler then offered me the couch, and I, being the selfless kind person I am, took it without hesitation. Tyler took the floor, and that was that.

I could tell that everyone else was asleep, because there were no lights coming from the bedroom and Tyler was snoring like a Snorlax. Pikachu was lying next to me, his chest rising up and down rhythmically. And Lucky was curled up in a ball on my chest. But I just couldn't find sleep.

My mind kept wandering back to the events on that island with Mewtwo. I kept thinking back to the huge battle between the clones and the cloning room where I saved the Pokemon.

Then my mind wandered to Lucky and the other five Pokemon. I kept thinking about what Tyler said about them. Could they really be lab experiments? Who would have done this? I instantly thought of Team Rocket, since they had the technology, but I pushed the idea aside. 'They surely learned their lesson when Mewtwo escaped.'

But then, who did do it? I tried to come up with someone who could do it, but nothing came up. I finally fell asleep thinking about this, and I ended up dreaming about it, too.

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Shortly after I fell asleep, I woke right back up to Lucky squirming on my chest. I looked up to see that he was really tense, and he was obviously still asleep. I groggily looked around to see that everyone else in the room was still asleep. This was the first time that I saw Gligar not in constant motion. I thought that it wasn't possible, but apparently sleep can make even this uber crazy Pokemon stay still.

I looked back at Lucky and figured that he was having a nightmare. Since those were obviously bad, I figured that Lucky would greatly appreciate being woken up.

"Hey, Lucky, wake up!" I whispered to him. When he kept sleeping, I poked him with my finger. Still nothing. For a second, I thought of grabbing the marker on the table and pulling a Jigglypuff on him, but I didn't. That was just too mean.

Instead, I picked him up and shook him around. That woke him up.

"AHHHHHHHH! HELP ME! IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" he yelled.

"Shhhhh!" I said, calming him down. I looked around, hoping that he didn't wake anyone up. "It's just me. I woke you up. You were having a nightmare."

"How'd you know?"

"I don't know, maybe because you were squirming around on my chest while you slept?"

"Oh."

"So, what were you dreaming about?" I whispered, putting him back down next to me as I sat up.

"I'm not exactly sure…" Lucky answered, matching my whisper.

"Try to explain what you saw," I told him.

"Um… Let's see… I was floating above a city. The first thing I could tell was that it was really big and that it had a lot of tall buildings," Lucky said, trying his best to remember.

"OK, what else?"

"I remember seeing a large single story building with a large sign over it that read GYM."

"So a large city with a Gym. Was that it?" I asked.

"I think so… Wait, no. There was also a building there that was taller than the rest. It was black and it had two towers on it," Lucky recalled.

"Was that it?"

"Yeah, that was all I could notice before the view all of a sudden started rushing through the city streets. I remember going into a building and down a flight of stairs. They led to a tunnel, which led to a really large room with lots of machines and equipment. That's when I stopped. I recognized the place immediately."

"Why did you recognize it?"

"It was the lab where I was tested to see the extent of my abilities. It was also the where I was fed poorly and harmed daily," Lucky whispered, suddenly shivering all over.

I couldn't believe it. Who would have such a cold heart to hurt any Pokemon? "What else did you see?"

"I saw many people in lab coats running around with clipboards and others in black uniforms."

"Did you recognize any of them? Can you remember who it was that put you through that testing?" I asked.

"I didn't recognize them, but I recognized the outfits that they were wearing. They were that of a Team Rocket grunt."

Hearing that made me angrier. How could Team Rocket do these things? First, they create a Pokemon that nearly killed me. Then one of their grunts kills Carol's parents. Then they stole Tyler's Pokemon. And now I was discovering that the six oddly colored Pokemon were tortured for their profit!

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"Well, the vision disappeared and I went into remembering the horrible things that I went through while I was there. You woke me up not long after that."

"We should probably tell everyone else about this, but let's wait till morning. I don't want to know what Carol will do to me if I try waking her up now," I whispered. Lucky chuckled quietly, and he curled back up into a ball and fell asleep almost instantly.

I sat there for a few more seconds, thinking about Team Rocket. After dealing with Jessie and James for a long time, I began to think that everyone in Team Rocket was as stupid and easy to deal with as they were. When Mewtwo showed up, I knew that they were definitely worse that I had thought, but I shrugged it off as a one time thing.

Now I looked at what they did to Carol, Tyler, and the oddly colored Pokemon. At that point, I knew that Team Rocket was more than a mere nuisance. They were evil, and they definitely needed to be stopped.

With that, I fell back down onto the couch and fell into a deep sleep.

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The next morning, I awoke to the tingling sensation that is about 5000 watts of pure electricity coursing through my entire body.

"Get up, lazy! It's almost 10:00!"

Yep, gotta love that living alarm clock that I call my partner.

"Thanks, Pikachu. How did you know that I love the feel of electricity frying all of my nerve endings?"

"Lucky guess."

I sighed and pulled myself up. I rubbed my eyes and opened them to see Pikachu sitting next to me, smiling, and Gligar flying around the room with Lucky in his grip.

Unfortunately, I realized later that this wouldn't be the last time I woke up to this.

"Gligar, could you please put Lucky down?" I asked, still trying to wake myself up. It's strange; you think that getting electrocuted would wake someone up all the way. I guess that I'm more used to it since Pikachu shocks me on a daily basis.

"NEVER!" shouted Gligar, before laughing maniacally. I sighed again and looked around the room. Tyler wasn't lying on the floor anymore so I assumed that he was making breakfast. I turned to the bedroom to see that it was open and that Carol wasn't in the bed anymore. I figured that she must be helping Tyler.

I looked over to the kitchen and said, "Hey, Tyler?"

"Yeah?" I heard come from the kitchen.

"Could you get Gligar to put Lucky down? I don't think that Lucky is enjoying his flight."

"YA THINK?!?" I heard Lucky yell.

"QUIET, SHINY!"

"Gligar, please put Lucky down," Tyler said.

"Fine!" Gligar said, setting Lucky down on the table. "You win this time, Shiny, but I will have my revenge! MUAHAHAHAHA!" he yelled, taking off again.

Lucky sat on the table, slightly reeling. I went over and picked him up.

"You OK, Lucky?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just attacked by a psychotic Gligar, that's all," he said, looking as if he were about to loose his lunch.

"Hey, did you have any other bad dreams?" I asked, leaning closer.

"No, I slept fine after I finished telling you about that nightmare. How about you?"

"I dreamt of the events on that island with Mewtwo."

"What did you see?"

"I just watched the events unfold as if I were watching a movie. I saw everything from a general viewpoint. It was really weird. Then I looked to my side to see that I was in someone's living room, and there were other people watching the thing as if it really were a movie. It made me feel like my life is some sort of cartoon that kids watch and obsess about!"

"That's horrible! I'm glad that it was just a dream," Lucky said.

"I know, right?"

At that time, Tyler called me in and told me that breakfast was ready. I let out the rest of my Pokemon and we ate.

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Nothing of particular interest happened during the meal. The food tasted good, there was some friendly discussion, and Gligar flew around the room like a crazed maniac shouting, "I AM SUPREME OVERLORD OF THE SHINY! ALL HAIL GLIGAR!"

Yep, nothing out of the ordinary.

After breakfast, we sat at the table, talking. Somehow, the subject turned to dreams, which was extremely convenient. As soon as Carol finished telling us about her dream involving dancing Machops and waterfalls of melted marshmallows (she's got some kind of weird imagination, doesn't she?), I took the opportunity to tell them of Lucky's nightmare.

"So… I had a strange dream that I was going to tell you about, but Carol's dream makes mine seem like nothing. But Lucky had an interesting dream last night," I said.

"Really? What did he dream of?" Tyler asked, quite intrigued about what Lucky could have dreamt of.

"Well, he told me that it was more of a nightmare. He said that he saw an aerial view of a city. He said that it had a Gym in it, and it had a lot of buildings. He also remembered seeing a large tower that had two towers on it. Then he said that his view flew in towards the city and he saw that he was rushing along streets until he came to a building, he went inside, and it led to an underground warehouse. Inside, he saw lots of lab equipment, and he told me that this was where he was examined to see the extent of his abilities," I explained.

"Wow, that's really strange. What else happened?" Carol asked.

"Lucky said that he saw people in white lab coats rushing around. He also saw people in that all to hated black uniform."

"You don't mean…" Tyler said.

I nodded. "Yep, Team Rocket. They were the ones that tested Lucky and the other five."

"That's just plain horrible!" said Carol. "Why do they do those things?"

"For profit," Tyler said, obviously displeased. "They do everything that they do to get money."

"What happened then?" Carol questioned.

"Lucky just said that after that, he started to dream about the things that he went through there. That's when I woke him up."

"This could be useful," I heard Tyler say.

"What? How?" Carol asked.

"We could use Lucky's description of the city to figure out where Team Rocket's base is," I explained for Tyler. He nodded.

"We just need to match up the description with the city and whichever one fits best is the place that we'll head off to," Tyler finished.

"Alright, first we need a map," Carol stated.

"Gligar, could you please?" Tyler asked, and Gligar stopped flying around in circles with the coffeepot in hand/wing. It took off to the bedroom, dropping the pot.

"Oh, crap!" I yelled, diving for the pot. I barely grabbed it before it hit the ground.

"Thanks, Ash," Tyler said, wiping sweat off of his brow. Who knows what horrible things might have happened if the coffeepot broke?

Gligar soon returned with something else in its grip, and it turned out to be Tyler's map. It dropped the map on the table, and returned to harassing the various kitchen utensils.

"How did you teach that crazy thing to do that?" Carol asked, dumbfounded.

"A LOT of practice and 20 boxes of silverware."

"What?" Carol and I both said.

"Don't ask, it's a _long_ story."

From Tyler's tone, I could tell that training that Gligar was either really frustrating or just plain weird. I figured that it was a mix of both.

"Now, let's get down to business," Tyler said, unrolling the map, revealing that it showed both Kanto and Johto. "The first thing that Lucky saw was that the city had a Gym. That takes out Pallet, Lavender, New Bark, and Cherrygrove. We are left with Viridian, Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Saffron, Fuchsia, Cinnabar, Violet, Azalea, Goldenrod, Ecruteak, Olivine, Cianwood, Mahogany, and Blackthorn."

"The next thing that Lucky told me," I picked up, "was that it was a really large city, with many tall buildings."

"That leaves us with Pewter, Cerulean, Vermilion, Celadon, Saffron, Goldenrod, Ecruteak, and Olivine."

"And the last thing that Lucky said that he saw was a large building with two towers," Carol finished.

"So, let's think. We know that neither Pewter or Cerulean has any prominent buildings, nor neither does Vermilion. Celadon does have the Department Store, so well keep it. Saffron has the Silph Co. building, so let's keep it as well," Tyler started.

"Goldenrod has the Radio Tower," I continued, "so it's a possibility. Ecruteak has the Tin Tower, but none of us know how tall it is or if it has two towers. We'll keep it just in case. As for Olivine…"

"Oh! I know! Olivine has the Lighthouse!" Carol said.

"Right! That is true. But that does bring up another interesting point. Ash, can you ask Lucky if he remembers if the city was by the sea?"

Lucky heard his name and his ears perked up.

"Did you see anything about what surrounded the city?" I asked.

Lucky seemed lost in thought for a few seconds, obviously trying to remember. After a while, he gave up and looked at me, and his face told me everything I needed to know.

"Nope, he can't remember anything else, unfortunately."

"Dang. Well, let's look at what we have left. There's Celadon, Saffron, Goldenrod, Ecruteak, and Olivine," Tyler summed up.

"So, where should we start?" I asked.

"Well, Goldenrod seems to be the closest to here, and from there, we can access Celadon and Saffron. So, I suggest that we go to Goldenrod."

"Then it's settled. To Goldenrod!" I said.

"To Goldenrod!" everyone echoed.

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That was the plan. We were going to head out to Goldenrod and search the city for anything that looked suspicious. Tyler packed his cooking equipment and his clothes, while Carol and I made sure that we repacked all of our stuff. All the while, Gligar carrying a seriously peeved Lucky around in circles in the air. The rest of the Pokemon tried to give chase to them, but Gligar easily wore them out. Poor Lucky's face was starting to match the color of his eyes.

"Ugh, I think I'm about to hurl," Lucky managed to say, his head reeling.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET! NO SHINY WILL TALK WITHOUT BEING TOLD TO TALK BY THE SUPREME OVERLORD OF SHINY OBJECTS!" yelled out the insane Gligar.

I sighed. I felt for poor Lucky. That Gligar had it in for him, and Lucky can't do anything about it.

Tyler finished packing and we all took care of the pre-departure necessities before heading out the door, our backpacks slung over our backs (duh). Tyler checked in with the lady at the front desk telling her that he was going to be gone for a while. Then we finally left the apartment building and headed out the northern exit of the city, towards Goldenrod.

"You know, I kind of missed being on the road, traveling with friends. Being back out here reminds me of the days when I traveled with my best friend, Jane, and all of our Pokemon. I remember that she continued on with her journey after I decided to give up training," Tyler said as he let a wave of nostalgia wash over him.

"Wait, if you were traveling with a friend, then wouldn't she have been in the same Pokemon Center that you were in when it was raided?" Carol asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that. She was a few doors down from me that night, and when the explosion happened, she checked on her Pokemon and returned them to their balls. After that, she hid them where nobody could find them. When Team Rocket came to her door to see no Pokemon or Pokeballs, they left her alone."

"I guess that she got lucky there," I said, feeling even worse for Tyler. It was bad enough that he lost his own Pokemon; he also had to go through seeing his friend keep hers.

"Yeah, she sure did…" Tyler said, his voice trailing off.

He remained quiet for most of the rest of the day. We finally came to a place that looked secluded enough for us to camp out at so that no one would see the oddly colored Pokemon.

I let my Pokemon out, and Carol followed suit. Tyler brought out his kitchen tools and his ingredients and began to make dinner. While he did that, Carol and I sat down with our Pokemon for a little bit of playing and discussion.

After a while, I started to wonder about whether or not Pokemon have original names. It finally got to the point where I had to ask.

"Hey, guys, I just thought of something. Do Pokemon actually have names given to you by your parents?" I asked.

Pikachu and the others looked up at me. Pikachu decided to speak, saying, "Actually, we do have names."

"So, I guess that I've been calling you by the wrong names all this time. What are your names?"

Pikachu spoke first. "My original name is Raidon."

"My name is Hana," said Chikorita.

"Mine is Kiyoshi," Cyndaquil said.

"And I'm Shinichi," Squirtle added on to the end. I nodded.

"By the way, don't worry about before now. You didn't have any way of knowing, and we won't hold that against you," Pikachu said.

"Thanks, guys," I said.

"Of course, now that you do know, any slip up from now on we will hold against you."

"Never mind, I take it back."

We all laughed, and I decided to take one quick go round to make sure that I had everyone's names straight.

"OK, let me make sure that I have this right," I said. I pointed at Pikachu and said, "Raidon, right?"

Pikachu nodded, and I pointed to Chikorita and said, "Hana?"

"Yep," she said, and I pointed to Cyndaquil. "Um, Kiyoshi?"

He nodded as well, and I finally pointed a Squirtle. "And Shinichi."

"You got it!" he said.

I turned to face Electrike and Abra. "Do you two have names?" I asked cautiously.

They nodded, and Abra said, "I am Mika, and Flash's real name was Kane."

"Do you have a preference?" I asked to the Electrike.

"Well, I have always liked Kane more, but I don't want to force Carol to learn a new name," he said.

"Well, I could ask her. I'm sure that as your trainer, she would understand and adapt."

"Could you?"

I turned to Carol and said, "Hey, Carol?"

"Hm?"

"Would you mind learning to call your Pokemon by new names?"

"Why?"

"Well, I just randomly wondered if Pokemon had original names that their parents gave to them. I asked, and it turns out that they do," I explained.

"Really? Cool! What are my Pokemon's names?"

"Abra said that her name was Mika, and Flash's name is Kane."

"Hmm, Mika and Kane…" Carol said, thinking. "I like them!"

I turned back to Mika and Kane. "There you have it. I think that she would be thrilled to call you by those names from now on."

"Yes!" said Kane, obviously excited to see that he was no longer going to be called Flash.

I looked at Gligar, who was playing with a metal spatula. "Do you have a name?" I asked him.

"I AM YASUO (yā-SOO-o), OVERLORD OF ALL SHINY OBJECTS! AND SOME DAY, THE WHOLE WORLD WILL KNOW THAT NAME, AND THEY WILL ALL BOW TO ME! I WILL RULE WITH AN…"

I tuned him out as soon as I realized that he was going on another maniacal rant about how he would take over the world with his army of shiny objects, holding the spatula high.

The last group I turned to was the oddly colored group. "So, do you have names?"

"What's a name?" all of them said, excluding Lucky.

"A name is what someone calls you by," he explained.

"Well, the only thing we were ever called by were the X group," Sandshrew said.

"Yeah, I was X-2," said Oddish, "and that's X-1, X-3, X-4, X-5, and X-6."

As he said that, he pointed to Lucky, then to Growlithe, then to Clefairy, then to Sandshrew, and finally to Dratini.

"So you guys have never had names?" They shook their heads no.

"Well, if I gave Lucky his name, then I can give you guys your names, too," I said.

They looked up with faces that seemed to be somewhat excited.

"Do you think that we could pick our own names, maybe?" Clefairy said.

"Yeah, if we're going to be called something by everyone, then do you think that we could give ourselves names that we like?" Growlithe added.

They all nodded in agreement, and I said, "Eh, sure, what the heck? I was going to list names for each of you, and let you tell me which one you like best, but this way just may be quicker."

They jumped up happily, and then they settled down and began to discuss among each other.

A few minutes later, they disassembled and lined up in front of me.

Lucky spoke first, saying, "I like Lucky, so I'll stick with it."

Then Oddish said, "Well, I kind of like the name Flare."

I nodded, then turned to the Growlithe, who spoke next. "I want to be known as Chill."

"And I like the name Fright," Clefairy said. That one confused me, but I let it go.

"I'm kind of leaning towards Leaf," Sandshrew said.

"And I want to be called Switch," Dratini finished.

"OK, let's see if I understand this. Your names are supposed to have something to do with your elemental attacks, right?" I asked. They nodded.

"OK, then that means that Oddish is Fire type, Growlithe is Ice type, Clefairy is Ghost type, and Sandshrew is Grass type. Is that right?"

Again, they nodded.

"Then, what is Dratini?" I asked.

This time, they shrugged.

"We're not sure what she is. We just know that every once in a while she switches types. She starts glowing, and then when she's done glowing, she's a different color and type," Chill told me. "Right now, we have no idea what she is."

"Speaking of switching types, I feel it coming now!" Switch yelled. We all turned to her and watched as she began to glow, and Carol, Tyler, and all of the other Pokemon noticed it too. But instead of glowing white, as if she were evolving, she glowed a strange brownish orange. When she was done, she was a strange color of brown.

I held up Dexter to her and it told me that she was a fighting-ground type.

"That's strange, but really cool," I commented.

"What just happened, Ash?" Carol asked. I explained to her about how Switch randomly changes types.

"Wow. That's really neat!" she said.

"Yeah," Tyler agreed.

"Alright, so let me give it a quick go round to make sure I've got your names down right. Oddish is Flare, Growlithe is Chill, Clefairy is Fright, Sandshrew is Leaf, Dratini is Switch, and Lucky is still Lucky," I listed.

"You got it, Ash," Leaf said.

"Well, now that you're done with names, Ash," Tyler said, "it's time to eat."

We all gathered around and Tyler passed out the stew that he had made, as well as the Pokefood that he made using his and Brock's recipe.

Just as we began to eat, we heard a very loud roar, which was followed by the sound of falling trees. We looked over to where it had come from, and we saw a huge yellowish beam shooting up into the sky.

"That's a hyperbeam!" I yelled.

"Yeah, but what made it?" Tyler asked.

"Whatever it was sounded like it was in extreme pain," I said.

We looked at each other, and without saying a word, we all raced off towards the source of the beam, Pokemon right at our heels.

'What could have made that hyperbeam?' I thought. 'The way it roared sounded not angry, but both sad and pained. Whatever roared needs help, and fast!'

End of Part Eight

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REVIEW NOW!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!!!!1ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ELEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!UNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SHINY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh, what could have made that roar?!? I know what it is, but you'll just have to wait for me to write the next part! Don't you just hate me?

Also, I have two things to explain. First, the coffepot thing is a shoutout to Ratchet1to4-Thom-TJayD for being one of my current and most faithful reviewers. Thanks for sticking with me for the whole ride so far!

And the second thing is that I kind of want to say something about Gligar's name. Yasuo is Japanese for "peaceful one". See the irony? So until next time, later!


	9. Reunion

A/N: Hey everyone! Got another part here for all of you! I hope you enjoy and remember to review!

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, all that crap saying I don't own Pokemon or the original idea for this story. I do own Tyler and Carol, but if anyone wants to use them in a story, that's fine with me. Just make sure to PM me and tell me about it because I'd really like to read it.

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Part Nine – Reunion

"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven." – Tryon Edwards

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We raced through the forest as fast as we could, and every once in a while, we would hear the same roar and see the same hyperbeam from a different direction. Every time that that happened, we had to quickly switch directions and follow the roar to a different place. The only thing that kept us sure that we weren't running in circles was the fact that every roar seemed to get louder.

While running, we ran into a trail of fallen trees and burnt clearings.

"This must be the path that the creature is making! We should follow it!" Carol said, slightly panting.

"Yes, but which way was it moving?" Tyler asked. Everyone looked around trying to find clues.

I looked at the path and noticed that all of the trees were facing the same way. I looked closer to see that the tops of the trees faced to our right.

"This way!" I shouted, running along the trail. Carol and Tyler followed, but that didn't keep them from wondering why.

"Why this way?" Tyler asked.

"Look at the trees. They are all facing towards this direction," I explained. "Whatever made them fall must have made them fall down in front of it, meaning that it was moving this way."

Tyler and Carol nodded. We all continued to race down this path. Switch had a little harder time keeping up, so I let her climb up my back to my neck, which she hung herself around.

The roars were getting much closer, and finally they got to be so loud that one roar shook the ground.

We rounded a corner and finally saw what the heck was the source of the roars and hyperbeams. It was a Tyranitar, and it was stomping around, knocking over trees and launching hyperbeams, burning the ground and trees severely.

It must have noticed us, because it turned around. However, instead of a rage filled glare, it gave us a sad, mourning look. I saw that its body was covered in cuts, and it had a particularly nasty gash on its right arm.

Carol and Tyler were scared to death, because they couldn't tell that it was in pain, but I could. As they cowered in fear, I stepped forward.

"Are you insane?! That thing will KILL you!" Tyler shouted.

"No, it won't," I said calmly. "It's in need of help. I can tell by the look on its face. It only needs help."

I walked up until I was standing next to it and took a closer look at the gash. It would need some serious medical help. Until we could get it there, however, that cut on its arm would need a temporary bandage.

I knew that I didn't have anything in my first aid kit that could cover it up, but it needed something. I looked around of something, and then I remembered something that my first aid instruction book said. It had said that for large cuts, use an item of clothing to act as a bandage, and apply pressure to the wound.

I took off my jacket and tied it tightly around the Tyranitar's arm. Then I called Mika over, saying, "Mika, I need your help."

"What do you need?" she asked as she appeared next to me.

"I need you to use your psychic powers to put pressure on this Tyranitar's right arm. It will help stop the bleeding."

"Got it," Mika said, wrapping the Tyranitar's arm with psychic pressure. The blood flow instantly dwindled down to a trickle.

"Thank you, human," said the Tyranitar, looking at me.

"It's no problem," I said. "And by the way, please call me Ash."

"Wait, how can you understand me?" the Tyranitar asked.

"It's a long story, and right now, we don't have the time for me to explain it," I told him.

"OK, Ash. You may call me Grom."

I nodded, and Grom continued by asking, "Who are they?"

I looked to where he was pointing at to see a still frightened Carol and Tyler, as well as the Pokemon, who were scared, but not as much as Tyler and Carol.

"They are my friends, Tyler and Carol," I said, pointing to each of them respectively. "And they are our Pokemon," I said, motioning to the Pokemon.

"Why are they over there?" Grom asked.

"They saw the destruction you created, and they kind of didn't want to end up like the grass or the trees."

"Oh, I see. I guess that that makes sense."

"Can you still walk? We need to get you to a Pokemon Center quickly, and I think that there is one nearby."

"I can still walk, I'm just unable to use my right arm," Grom said, and I nodded.

"That's good, because I don't think that we would be able to carry you to the Center," I said. "No offence."

"None taken. I understand completely."

"I'll get them over here, and then we can get you to the Pokemon Center," I said. I turned to face Mika. "How long do you think that you could do that?"

"I could do this all day if I needed to," Mika said, bragging.

"Good," I said. I walked back over to Tyler and Carol. They were still afraid of Grom, but a short explanation made them understand.

We went back to Grom and everyone introduced themselves, some introducing themselves for the first time ever.

Then we started walking in the direction of the Pokemon Center, but Carol suddenly remembered about our gear.

"Guys, what about our stuff?"

"Oh, right! Carol, do you think that you could get our bags for us?" I said.

"I guess, but I'll need a little help to carry it all."

"You can borrow some Pokemon," I suggested. "Who wants to volunteer?"

Both Flare and Leaf raised their hands (or in Flare's case, vine), and they were off. We decided to give Carol the map since we already knew where we were going, and since it had our camp's location marked on it. I gave Carol Flare's and Leaf's Pokeballs, and they were off.

After they were gone, I turned to face Grom. "So what happened to you?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who or what gave you that gash and those cuts?"

"Oh. I don't exactly know who it was, but I remember that they were wearing all black uniforms, with-"

"A red R on the chest?" I asked before he could finish.

"Yeah! How did you know?" he asked.

"They're Team Rocket, an evil band of people who steal money and take trainer's Pokemon to sell for profit. Everyone here has dealt with them," I answered.

I went on, telling him, "Carol's parents were brutally murdered by them, Tyler's other two Pokemon were taken by them, and I was nearly killed by one of their creations. They also tortured Lucky, Flare, Chill, Fright, Leaf, and Switch."

"That's awful!" he said.

"So, what did they do to you, exactly?"

"Well, they came into the cave that I lived in and took my son and wife. I barely escaped, but when I tried to free my family, they slashed at me with some kind of sword. I thought that my armor would protect me, but the sword cut right into my arm, giving me that huge gash. I was so surprised that they were able to escape."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. I just couldn't believe it. If hearing this did anything, it just made me want to get rid of Team Rocket even more. While he cried, I told Tyler about what happened to Grom. Tyler was just as upset as I was.

Soon, Grom stopped crying, and we kept walking. After about two to three hours, we reached the Pokemon Center. I made sure to put Lucky in my backpack and Chill, Fright, and Switch in their Pokeballs before entering. We didn't need Nurse Joy freaking out about them when we needed her to help Grom.

As we entered, Nurse Joy looked up and began to say, "Hi, how may I-" It was at this point that she noticed the terrible state that Grom was in.

"Oh, my! What happened?"

I explained to her about how we found the Tyranitar, taking special precaution to not use his name, and how he needed immediate attention for his large wound. She led him to the Emergency Room quickly, with us not too far behind.

On the way, she complimented me on my quick thinking.

"Good job on using your jacket to bandage the wound and having this Abra here use its psychic powers to apply pressure to it," she said.

"Oh, thank you," I said, slightly blushing. "I've been traveling for a while now, and my old friend Brock taught me a lot about first aid."

"Did you say Brock?" she asked. I nodded, and she said, "Are you Ash?"

Again, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm Ash. Why do you ask?"

"Brock called here earlier and told me to keep a look out for you. He had something he wanted to tell you," she explained. "Should I inform him that you are here once I am done treating this Tyranitar?"

"Yes, please, that would be nice."

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After about a half-hour, we were still sitting in the ER waiting room. Carol had joined us about fifteen minutes after we had arrived with our stuff in tow. Finally, Nurse Joy emerged from the room and said, "Well, I've stitched up his cut and bandaged the rest of his smaller cuts, so now the rest is up to him and his healing abilities."

"Can we go see him?" I asked.

"Well, I guess that it's safe. Go ahead," she said. "Just be careful around his right arm."

I thanked her, and we started to head in. However, before we could enter, Nurse Joy called out my name.

"Um, Ash?"

"Yes?"

"Do you still want me to notify Brock that you are here?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Please do," I said.

"OK."

With that settled, we went into the ER.

In the room were a couple of large machines that were hooked up to Grom, monitoring various things about his health. I saw that Grom was lying on a large table, his gash no longer bleeding since it was stitched closed.

Grom noticed that we entered and looked up. He smiled the best that a Tyranitar could, and he said, "Ash, Carol, Tyler, what's up?"

"Not much, Grom," I answered. "How's your arm?"

"Well, it still hurts a little bit, but it feels much better than before."

"That's good," I said before translating everything to Tyler and Carol. They were happy that he was feeling alright.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Ash?" Grom asked.

"I mean, now that you're fixed up, what are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "Without my wife and kid, I'm really not sure. I can't return to the cave I was living in; there are too many memories of my wife and son."

I translated, and Carol asked, "Wait, he has a wife and son?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you weren't there when Grom told us his story," I said.

With that, I explained to Carol about Grom's family and Team Rocket. Carol was sad for Grom, since she knew exactly what it was like to have family taken away by Team Rocket.

"So, Ash, what do you want in return?" Grom asked. The question caught me off guard.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"What I mean is that since you saved my life, I am supposed to give you something in return. It's a tradition that all of us Pokemon share. If somebody does something nice to a Pokemon, then the Pokemon is supposed to do something nice for that person. So, what do you want?"

I blinked. He was asking me what I wanted from him since I saved his life. I couldn't ask anything of him. It just didn't seem right. But since it was a tradition…

"Well, Grom, I guess the thing that I want is…" I started, thinking deeply. I finally came up with something that was the perfect thing to ask for.

"I want your permission to find your family and save them from Team Rocket."

This statement took everyone by surprise, especially Grom.

"What did Grom ask you, Ash?" Carol said.

I quickly explained the Pokemon tradition to the both of them. They looked amazed, and they looked at Grom to see what he would say about my response.

Grom just lay there, stunned. After a few seconds, he spoke. "No, really, Ash. What do you want?"

"That is what I want."

"Really?" he asked. I nodded.

"I don't want to force you to do anything, but at the same time, I don't want to break your tradition. So the only thing that I want from you is permission to save your family," I said.

Grom looked at me, and I looked at him, and I saw in his face sheer gratitude. He nodded, and said, "If that is what you want, then you have my permission to save my family."

"Thank you," I said, and turned to Carol and Tyler. They looked somewhat confused, and I sighed.

"Ugh, sometimes I wish that you two could understand Pokemon so that I wouldn't have to constantly translate everything for you!" I said, exasperated. When they continued to stare at me, I gave up and quickly translated everything that just happened.

Just as I finished, Nurse Joy walked into the room and said, "Ash, I couldn't get a hold of Brock. It seems that they have already gone to sleep."

"Oh, OK," I said, slightly disappointed.

"I think that you should also get some sleep. It's really late," Nurse Joy said. "We could try to get a hold of Brock tomorrow morning."

I looked at Tyler and Carol, and they nodded. I nodded as well, and Nurse Joy led us out of the ER and upstairs to three empty rooms. We split up, saying our goodnights, and I entered my room. I let everyone out and talked with them for a while, and then we went to sleep.

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When I woke up, I noticed that I had actually woken up before Raidon. 'Looks like you can't shock me this morning,' I thought.

I looked over at the clock to notice that it was about 9:30. 'Hmm, I wonder why Raidon isn't up already?' I thought. Then I remembered that we were up until about midnight last night helping Grom.

'Grom!' I thought. 'I hope that he's still doing fine…'

I decided that we needed to get up and check on him since it was already past the time we normally woke up. I sat up, jarring Lucky from his sleep and nearly knocking Raidon off of the bed.

I looked down at my Pokemon, who were all still asleep except for Lucky and Raidon. I turned to Raidon to see that he was very angry.

"WHY'D YOU NEARLY KNOCK ME OFF OF THE BED?!?!" he yelled.

I rubbed the back of my head nervously and said, "Well, I needed you to be awake so that I could get you to wake everyone else up."

"Oh… In that case," he said, a sly grin forming. With that, he let loose a powerful blast of electricity that zapped everyone in the room, including Lucky and me.

"HEY, I'M ALREADY AWAKE!" yelled Lucky, taking off after Raidon, who ran away. As the chase started, I noticed that Lucky had a black ball of energy forming at his mouth. I pulled out Dexter, and it told me that it was the move shadow ball.

"That's an interesting development," I said.

After Lucky had his revenge, I put everyone in their respective places and walked out of the room. I saw Carol, Tyler, and Nurse Joy standing outside of my room, talking. When I shut the door, they turned and saw me as I walked towards them.

"Oh, Ash! You're awake," Carol said.

"Obviously," I said.

"Ash, Brock just called for you on the private line, and he wishes to talk to you right away," Nurse Joy informed me.

"Oh, thank you!" I said.

She walked off, and the rest of us headed for the private videophone room. Luckily, the room was big enough for all of them to comfortably fit in.

When Carol closed the door, I opened up my bag and let Lucky out. He gasped and said, "Ugh, it's so cramped in there. Why do I have to be in there again?"

"Because you don't like being in your Pokeball," I retorted.

"Touché."

I turned to the phone booth and walked up. I saw Brock and Misty on the screen, discussing something.

"Hey, guys! How's it been?" I asked.

"Ash! It sure is good to see you!" Brock said, breaking from their conversation.

"It's been pretty good," Misty said, answering my question.

I smiled. It felt great to hear their voices again. "So, how's the Gym crisis going?"

"Well, it turns out that there was no Gym crisis at all!" Brock explained.

"What! Then why did your families call you home?" I yelled into the speaker.

"Calm down, Ash!" said Misty. "No need to yell your head off."

"They called us home because they just wanted to see us. They got us both back to our Gyms and somehow my family tricked me into going to Misty's Gym, where there was a party waiting for us," Brock said calmly.

"And the only reason they threw it was because they wanted to give us a quick break from traveling. As if we needed it!" said a slightly unhappy Misty.

"That's crazy! Where are you now?" I asked.

"Were in the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center. We got off of the train an hour ago," Brock said.

"So, who are your new friends back there?" Misty asked.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce you," I said. "This is Carol," I said pointing at Carol. She waved and said hi.

"And this is Tyler," I said, pointing at Tyler. He said hey and waved as well.

"Tyler, Carol, this is Misty and Brock," I said, pointing to them respectively.

They said hi, and that was that.

"So, what have you been up to while we were gone, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Well, after you left, I continued along the path until I ran into this little guy," I said, holding up Lucky. "When I found him, he was badly beaten up, so I rushed him to the nearest Pokemon Center."

"Wait a second," Misty said. "I've seen that Eevee before…"

"Misty, it's one of those escaped Pokemon from the newspaper article," Brock explained.

"So you know about them, do you?" I said. They nodded.

"I thought that they were dangerous," Misty said.

"Well, they _were_ dangerous. However, when I found him, he didn't seem dangerous at all, just hurt and alone. I took him to the Pokemon Center just to have the Nurse Joy freak out on me!" I explained. "She took him and strapped him down to the ER bed, but I took him away from her. We left the Center, and then we set up camp. I gave him the name Lucky, and I introduced him to the rest of my Pokemon."

I ended up telling them the entire story, including the part with Team Rocket (at which Tyler yelled at me for not telling him). I left out the eggs, and made sure to leave out the part with the Legendary Birds, replacing it with my made up story about how that event went. They had a few interruptions, and I answered most of them with ease.

"Well, I guess that you've been in high gear ever since we left," Brock said, laughing. We all started laughing at that. It felt good to talk to my friends again.

"Anyway, since we're so close to each other, how about you head this way and meet us here in Goldenrod?" Misty asked.

I thought for a second, and then I remembered Grom and said, "Actually, do you think that you could come out here? I don't want to leave Grom until I'm sure that he's OK."

They looked at each other for a second, then turned back to the screen.

"All right, that's fine with us. We understand about Grom," Misty said.

"How long do you think it will take?" I asked.

Brock pulled up his map. "Well, according to the map, it should only take us about a half-hour," he said.

"OK, then. I'll see you two then! Bye!"

"Bye!" they both said, and the connection was ended.

We exited the room, putting Lucky back in my bag after some arguing, and headed back to the ER. When we entered, Nurse Joy was in the room, standing over Grom.

"Oh, hi Ash. Are you done talking with your friends?" she asked.

"Yep, they're actually going to be here pretty soon," I told her.

"That's nice," Nurse Joy said.

"So, how is he?" Carol asked, obviously talking about Grom.

"He's doing very well. His wounds are healing nicely, and that gash is showing signs of improvement," Nurse Joy summed up.

"That's a relief," I said.

"You really got lucky with him. That wound was on the brink of infection. Any longer and we would have been unable to heal it," she said.

"Yeah, I guess I did get lucky," I said.

Nurse Joy started to leave the room, when she remembered something.

"By the way, Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Your jacket is over there on that chair. Unfortunately, it's probably stained too deeply to remove."

" Oh," I said. I had grown fond of that jacket. "I guess that I'll just have to get a new one."

Nurse Joy nodded and left the room. I turned to Grom.

"Hehe, sorry about the jacket," he said.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault," I said. "I knew that if I used it to bandage your wound that it would get stained. Helping you was more important than my jacket."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I liked the jacket, but I can always replace it. I can't do that with the life of another living being."

"You know, I always thought that humans were evil creatures, capturing us Pokemon for their enjoyment. Team Rocket may prove that point, but seeing you and your friends makes me think otherwise."

"It was nothing," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"No, it wasn't," Grom said. "You saved my life. And for that, I am extremely thankful."

As soon as he said that, I began to glow. Carol, Tyler, and Pikachu jumped back in shock. Grom sat there and watched.

I stopped glowing, and a strange orb of light came out of my chest. I recognized it from the event on the lakeshore. Then the sound of Moltres's voice echoed in the room.

'You have unlocked another power. Congratulations, Ash. May this new power serve you well on your journey.'

With that, the glowing sphere expanded in size, and it eventually grew to be the same height as I was. Then, the light enveloped me, and I couldn't see anything else but the light.

Then, I began to feel dizzy and exhausted. Finally, I lost the energy I needed to keep me awake, and I blacked out.

End of Part Nine

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I hate myself for doing this, but it's another cliffhanger! Please don't be angry at me, I just didn't want to make the part too long. Any ways, I'd like to notify you readers and reviewers that I will put a poll up asking you whether or not Ash should come clean to his friends. I can't decide, so I'll let you guys decide for me!

Thanks, and don't forget to review and go see my poll!


	10. Identity Crisis

A/N: Well, this is it! You guys who did vote on my poll, thank you all very much. And those of you who didn't... you will be the first to fall to my army of shiny objects! Muahahahahaha!

Anyhow, you guys chose for Ash to... *drumroll* Come Clean! It was a close race, with come clean winning three to two votes. So I hope you enjoy!

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Part Ten – Identity Crisis

"The value of identity, of course, is that so often with it comes purpose." - Richard R. Grant

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I wasn't sure what I was seeing, but it felt extremely weird. After I blacked out, I found that I was floating in this strange place. I'd read about people who have blacked out, and when they came to, they told of being suspended in a black field of nothingness. What I saw was nothing like this.

I was suspended, but what I saw was nowhere near eternal blackness. I saw actual shapes and colors, and things like that. The landscape was like a normal landscape, with hills and valleys and trees and water. Some of the landscape I could remember, like the lake where I first met Misty, and my hometown, but without any houses.

However, the main things that I saw were these large flat squares. Some were black on the back, and some were gray. But on the other side of each, they were repeating a scene over and over again.

I walked, or rather floated, among these things, looking at various scenes, noticing that they were all repeating a certain event involved me. It was almost as if I was inside my mind, watching my memories. However, I didn't think that that was the case, because some of them showed things that I never did. I could tell because I didn't feel right looking at them. I'm not sure what I felt, but it seemed like when I was looking at something I didn't do, I felt empty, for lack of a better word.

I finally came upon the square that was at the end of the line of black squares. I had realized that they were arranged in a tree of sorts, splitting at places where I made major decisions. I figured out that the gray ones showed what would have happened if I chose a different choice. Some things ended up better, and some worse.

When I looked at the two beyond the final black square, I noticed that they had writing on the backs of them. One said 'Tells his friends about the Legendary Birds' and the other said 'Keep the Legendary Birds a secret'. I floated along and I saw that one of the two paths inevitably ended fairly soon, no matter what choice I took after the current decision. I floated back to the current decision to see which one it was, following the line carefully the entire time.

I finally reached the place and I looked at the decisions again. The choices were still the same, and I looked at the squares. The one on the right was the one that I was looking for. It said 'Keep the Legendary Birds a secret' on it. I floated around it and saw the scene unfold. Strangely, unlike the rest of the scenes, this one was from my point of view. It showed Carol and Tyler turned away from me, saying that if I kept this secret from them, then what other secrets was I keeping. I followed the line and saw that my life after choosing that involved running off and getting killed by a rouge gunshot.

I wondered about whether or not this would really happen, but before I could figure it out, I felt a strange tugging sensation on my body. I felt myself getting pulled back towards the last black square, and eventually into it, as I returned to reality.

Unfortunately, I failed to notice that the other line of decision ended fairly soon after the first one.

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I regained consciousness soon after being sucked into the black square. The first thing I felt was this really strange sensation all over my body, and it felt a lot like when you have really dry skin. However, usually that feels annoying, but right now, it felt almost good.

The next thing that I did was open my eyes. I immediately wished that I didn't do that. I guess that those people that have experienced a blackout before really were telling some truths. It _did_ hurt extremely when you open your eyes for the first time after regaining consciousness.

After a few more tries, I could hold my eyes open without it feeling as if someone were drilling a hole through them. The first thing that I noticed was that I was lying on the ground and my head was facing to the side. I used all the energy I had to push myself up. For some reason, I felt strangely heavier, and it seemed harder to move my arms. I just passed it off as a side effect of passing out.

As I finally got myself sitting upright, I noticed that everything seemed very tall: the table, the chairs, and my friends. When I looked at my friends, I saw two things. One was that they looked like giants. Two was that they were looking at me with the most odd look. I couldn't help but realize that it seemed as if they were really confused.

"Guys, what's wrong? You OK?" I asked. As I did, I noticed how strange my voice sounded.

"Um, yeah Ash, we're just fine, it's just that…" Tyler said, his voice trailing off.

"Just that what?" I said, realizing that my voice sounded a little rougher, as if I had a sore throat. I put that off as another side effect.

"Well…" Carol began, "it's a little hard to explain…"

"Just tell me already!" I yelled, getting really angry as I jumped up to my feet.

Right then, I lost balance, falling back down. It felt as if something behind me pulled me backwards, and something above my head made me tip sideways as well.

"What the…?" I said, trying to pick myself up.

I arched my back to try and get a better look at what was holding me down. What I saw was creepy beyond words.

My entire back was covered entirely in hard greenish scales, and at the bottom, there were some strange rectangular things extending out in a circular pattern. I found that I could move them, which both intrigued me and grossed me out even further.

I turned back to face the front and desperately tried to find a mirror. Tyler had me covered.

"Um, you might want this," he said, holding up a mirror.

In the mirror, I saw the reflection of a Larvitar. The stubby arms, the short legs, the snout, and the head fin thing. The only thing that was different was my hat sitting on top of the fin.

"Ha ha, very funny guys. Nice prank," I said, refusing to believe what I saw. Unfortunately, I saw that whatever I did, the Larvitar in the mirror did, too.

"Um, Ash? This isn't a prank," Carol said.

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN THAT IT'S REAL?!" I screamed.

"Um, yeah, it is," I heard from behind me. I turned to see Raidon and Lucky standing behind me. They were both still shorter than I was, but they were much taller now.

"Holy crap, you guys sure seem tall!" I said.

"Well, anything would seem tall to a person who suddenly went from four and a half feet to about two feet," Lucky said.

"Hehe, I guess so," I said, rubbing my neck as best as I could with my really stubby arms. "So, what happened after I passed out?" I asked, turning back to Carol and Tyler.

"Well, the white light disappeared, leaving you lying on the ground, except you were a Larvitar. We waited here for almost twenty minutes before you came to," Tyler explained.

"Wait a second, twenty minutes?" I said. "But that means that Brock and Misty will be here in a few minutes!"

"Oh, crap! I forgot about them!" Carol exclaimed. "How are we going to explain this?"

"Maybe Ash could explain for us what happened," Tyler said, and all eyes were turned on me. I felt extremely embarrassed right now since I wasn't wearing any clothing anymore. That reminded me about my Pokeballs that were on my belt, but I saw that they were lying around me on the ground. I figured that they fell off of my belt when I transformed.

"Well? Come on and tell us, Ash," Carol insisted.

"Well, um, you see…" I started.

Then I remembered the strange event that happened while I was passed out. If I lied to them, I would end up dying soon. But if I told the truth…

"I guess that I'll just have to come right out with it," I said, sighing. "First, you need to know what really happened on the shore with Leaf."

I explained the entire event to them: the reassuring I gave Leaf, the Legendary Birds showing up (and upon request, where they came from), and what they did. As I finished, Tyler and Carol looked just as confused as they did when I started the story.

"That's nice and all, but where's the proof?" Tyler asked.

"Excuse me?"

"The proof! Where is your proof?" he repeated.

"Ugh, alright. I need you to get my backpack down off of that table over there and bring it to me," I said.

Tyler did so quickly, and once the bag was in front of me, I unzipped the main pouch and saw that the golden egg was still in my backpack. That was good, because I intended to keep that a secret. I brought out the three Pokeballs that held the Birds and threw them up, releasing each of the birds in midair.

All Tyler and Carol did was gawk at the three birds that flew in front of them. "But you- How did- Why- Where- Huh?" Tyler stammered out.

I slapped my forehead, and the three birds sweatdropped.

'I guess that Ash was finally forced to reveal us to his friends,' Zapdos said.

'About time,' Moltres mumbled.

Articuno sighed, and said, 'We assume that you are friends of Ash. Are we right?'

Tyler and Carol were even more confused than before.

"How can we understand them?" Tyler asked me.

'You can understand us because we do not speak with our mouths, but with our minds,' Zapdos answered for me.

"What?"

I slapped my forehead again. "They're talking to us telepathically!" I yelled.

"Oh!" Tyler and Carol said at the exact same time.

'So, what is your reason for calling us out, Ash?' Moltres asked.

"I had to tell these two gawking idiots about you, and when I did, they asked for proof," I told them.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?!?!" Carol screamed.

"Oh, crap," I mumbled, and she began to chase me.

I knew that with my Larvitar legs being as short as they were, she would catch me soon. Then I began to wonder. If I'm a Larvitar, then that means…

"ROCK THROW!" I yelled, pulling a small boulder about my size out of seemingly nowhere and throwing it at Carol. It hit her in the stomach, knocking her into the ground.

"Ouch," she said, lying under the rock, trying to catch her breath.

"Oops, sorry!" I said. I didn't know that it would hurt her that badly.

"Carol, are you OK?" Tyler said, rushing to her side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess that I'll never be able to beat Ash up like I did before now that he can do that," she managed to say.

"You beat up Ash?" Tyler exclaimed. Then he burst out into laughter. I became really pissed at that. I don't know how I did it, but a loud screech was let loose into the air, causing everyone in the room to cringe.

"Yeowch!" yelled Tyler.

"What the heck was that?" Carol asked after the screech faded away.

'I guess that Ash now knows how to use screech,' Moltres said, who was also feeling the effects of the attack. As I looked around, I saw that Raidon, Lucky, Grom, and Yasuo were also cringing from the attack.

"Sorry, I guess that I got really mad, and it just slipped out," I apologized.

'Now that we are out, before we return to our Pokeballs, we need to give you this,' Articuno said. All of a sudden, a strange green scale appeared in front of me. I reached up and grabbed it. It felt cool to the touch and I felt it emanating some sort of power.

"What is it?" I asked.

'That is the key to using your new power. If you can solve that puzzle scale, you will be able to control your newest ability with ease,' Articuno explained.

'Now that we have given you the key, we must be returning now,' Zapdos said, and they all disappeared back into their Pokeballs.

Just then, the door opened, revealing Nurse Joy. Lucky jumped into my backpack as fast as he could, and I ran behind it.

"What happened in here? I heard a loud screech, and it made everyone in the Center cringe, including all of the patients," Nurse Joy asked. She then noticed that there was a large boulder sitting on top of Carol, and rushed over to help get it off of her.

Once it was off, Carol stood up and brushed herself off.

"Where did that come from?" Nurse Joy asked. "Was it the Tyranitar?"

"No, it wasn't him. It was that Larvitar hiding behind Ash's backpack," Carol said.

'Great, ratted out by my best friend,' I thought.

Nurse Joy came around and found me sitting there. I was glaring at Carol, and she was trying her best to keep her composure, but the leer attack was working.

"Well, where did you come from?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Well," Tyler began, "I believe that he came in here just a few minutes ago. We think that he might know this Tyranitar here, so we let him stay." Saved by the friend.

"Oh, I see. But where's Ash? And why does this Larvitar have Ash's hat?" Nurse Joy inquired.

"Well, Carol said something that made Ash angry, and he threw down his hat and left the room, saying something about needing a little alone time. A few minutes later, this Larvitar came in and saw Ash's hat. For some reason, it seemed to like it, and put it on its head. Carol and I tried to get it back, but he threw a rock onto Carol, and then used screech, knocking me down," Tyler made up.

Nurse Joy fell for the lie, and she nodded. "Oh, by the way, Brock and Misty have just arrived. Would you like to see them?" she asked.

"Um…" Tyler said, turning to look at Carol. She nodded, and said, "Sure, why not?"

"OK, they're right out here in the front lobby," Nurse Joy said, walking out of the room. Tyler picked up my bag and the three Pokeballs lying on the floor and followed her out. Carol and the rest of the Pokemon went with him. Only Grom and I were left in the room.

"So, Ash, love the new look," Grom said.

"Shut it."

We looked at each other, and began to laugh. It was the only thing that I could do at the moment to try and hide my worry. 'What if I can't solve this thing? Will I be stuck like this forever?'

I decided to ask Grom about the scale thing. "Hey, Grom, what can you tell about this scale thing?"

I handed it to him, and he inspected it carefully.

"Well, from the looks of it, it is a block puzzle. You choose two adjacent squares and they switch. You keep doing this until it shows a picture or symbol," Grom explained, handing the scale back to me. I experimented with it by touching two squares that were right next to each other, and they switched places.

"Do you know what kind of symbol it is?" I asked.

Grom shook his head no. "I couldn't tell what it was. You're on your own there."

"Oh…"

"Hey, you should probably get out of here. Your other friends out there might try and catch you if they see you," Grom said.

I thought about it for a moment. Misty wouldn't care too much, but Brock would love to have me, since I'm a rock type, and those are his favorites.

With that, I sneaked out of the room and into the lobby.

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As I peeked into the lobby, I saw that there were no other trainers there besides my friends. They were standing to the side of the lobby, and the exit was in sight. 'This is my chance,' I thought.

With that, I dashed for the exit. However, when the sliding doors opened, they made a noise that attracted the attention of everyone in the lobby.

"Hey look, it's a Larvitar!" Brock said.

"Yeah, but why does it have Ash's hat?" Misty asked.

"We should probably get it before it runs off," Brock said.

'Crap,' I thought, as I started running.

"Hey, it's getting away!" Brock exclaimed as he began running after me. I turned to see Misty following and Tyler and Carol were behind her, giving each other looks of worry.

I ran as fast as I could, but they were starting to catch up. I decided to jump into a bush and try to hide. I then remembered something about Larvitar. 'Larvitar love to dig, right?' I thought, looking at the ground.

I tried to use dig, but I apparently didn't know how to use it yet. So instead, I moved my arms as fast as I could, flinging up dirt all around me. I tunneled down a few feet into the ground, and it didn't feel cramped or creepy at all. I actually felt at home.

Unfortunately, Brock spotted the pile of dirt around the bush that I was hiding in, and he yelled out, "Hey! It's in here!"

Next thing I saw was a red flash from the top of the tunnel, followed by a loud roar. 'CRAP, he sent out Onix!' I thought. I began to dig further down. However, Onix had more experience, and he caught up to me in a matter of seconds and grabbed onto my tail thing with his mouth.

"YEOW! Watch it, that's a brand new attachment that I'm not used to having yet!" I yelled.

He let me go and said, "How do you know the human language?"

"Um, yeah, funny story, I am actually Ash."

"Right," Onix said, rolling his eyes.

"No really! I mean it!" I said.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Because if I weren't Ash, I wouldn't know that in my first Gym battle with Brock, I used Pikachu against you and made him use the sprinkler system to douse you in water to weaken you," I said.

He was stunned. "So it _is_ you, Ash!" he exclaimed. "Why are you a Larvitar?"

I sighed, and I told him about the Legendary Birds. When I finished, he seemed to accept it.

"That's really weird," he said.

"So you believe me?" I asked.

"Yep, I believe you. We rock Pokemon actually can tell when another rock Pokemon is lying. And since I can tell that you aren't lying, I believe you."

"Well, that's something that I didn't know about Pokemon," I said. He laughed, and returned to the surface to tell Brock that I wasn't here.

After I was sure that they were gone, I sighed deeply. I looked around me, and then looked at the small scale. I started to mess with it, but then realized that if I solved it here, I wouldn't be able to get out of this tunnel. I looked at the dirt and all of a sudden, my stomach growled.

'Hmm, I remember hearing that Larvitar like to eat dirt. I wonder…' I thought. With that, I picked up a handful (or pawful, I'm not sure what my hand is classified as now) of dirt and put it into my mouth. Strangely, it tasted good. My mind was screaming 'Yuck! Disgusting!' but my mouth still said that it tasted good.

I ended up eating quite a bit more dirt, and eventually, the tunnel was now large enough to comfortably fit a full size Tyranitar. After I was full, I crawled back up the tunnel and popped back up where I went down. It was early in the afternoon, and I could tell because the sun was high in the sky, but not directly over head.

I sat in the bush, trying to solve the puzzle scale, and I eventually figured out that the pattern looked like a bunch of sound waves coming from the thin tip of the scale. I finally solved it, and once I did, the scale developed a hole in the thick end and a ring went through it. Then a chain appeared around the ring, and it floated up and over my head, placing itself around my neck.

Then, I began to glow again, and when I was finished, I was human again. I was extremely thankful that I was clothed, and I took off my hat and ran my hand through my hair. No scales, and no giant fin. Unfortunately, the dirt that I had eaten earlier was greatly upsetting my stomach, and I almost puked.

Then I looked at my hat and saw that there was a huge rip in it. I figured that it must have happened when I tunneled into the ground. The dirt must have forced the hat to rip and go down until it fit on my head and wouldn't move any further, creating the rip where my head fin thing was.

I sighed, putting the hat back on my head. I'd have to explain to Brock and Misty why there was the giant rip in my hat. I then looked down and saw the scale sitting on my chest, hung around the chain. I touched it, and wondered how I could become a Larvitar again. I decided to try and remove the necklace. I took it off and…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sighed and put it back on, and wished that I knew how to use that power. I thought of being able to switch freely back and forth between my human body and the Larvitar body. I kind of wanted to be a Larvitar right now. It was actually kind of cool.

All of a sudden, I began to glow. I felt myself shrink, and I felt my features change. When I was done, I looked at myself to see that I was a Larvitar again. I then thought, 'Is that how I change?'

I tried wanting to be human again, and that's exactly what happened. "Oh, I see. I just have to make myself want to switch bodies, and it happens," I said to no one in particular.

I then began to walk back to the Pokemon Center. Luckily, it wasn't far, and I was there within a few minutes. It was time to go see my friends again.

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As I entered the doors, Brock and Misty looked over to see me come in. "Ash!" they both exclaimed.

"Hey, guys! When did you get here?" I asked, pretending that I didn't already know that they were here.

"Just a few minutes ago," Brock answered as I joined the rest of the group. Raidon immediately jumped up onto my shoulder. I turned to see him smiling.

"Glad that you're back to normal," he said, and I smirked.

"I see that you've gotten back your hat, but why is it ripped?" Misty said.

"Oh, yeah. I was walking back when I ran into a little Larvitar with my hat on its head," I lied. "I noticed that the hat was ripped so that it fitted around its head fin."

"So how did you catch it?" Brock asked.

"Well, I saw that it was wearing my hat. You guys remember that I can talk to Pokemon, right?"

They both nodded, and I continued. "I talked to it and I explained that the hat it was wearing was mine. It gave it back and told me that it was ripped from when it tunneled underground to escape some people that wanted to catch it. I figured that he meant you two when he mentioned a tall tan guy with squinty eyes and a thin redheaded girl."

"Oh, I see," Brock said. That's when Yasuo noticed the scale around my neck.

"SHINY!" he yelled as he dive-bombed into my chest, knocking me down. I hit the ground with a thud, and Yasuo tried to take the scale. I then did something that surprised even me.

I began to thrash about wildly, and I ended up knocking Yasuo out. I finally stopped thrashing once he was off of me, and I suddenly felt really dizzy, and there was multiples of everything. I guess that I just learned how to use attacks outside of my Larvitar body, and I had just used thrash.

I remember Brock and Carol guide me to the nearest chair, which I collapsed into immediately. After a minute or so, everything stopped spinning, and I could see clearly again.

"Oh, crap, what just happened?"

"You just freakin' went nuts on Yasuo there!" yelled Tyler, who was kneeling over Yasuo. He was fine, but unconscious. "I understand that he attacked you, but did you have to do that? I could have just called him off!"

At this point, Nurse Joy ran up and took Yasuo to be healed. Tyler stayed with us, and he had a worried look on his face, not because he was worried about Yasuo; Tyler told me that he had been through other things that made this look like a play date. Tyler was worried more about what just happened to me.

"Yeah, and you made him faint! How the crap did you do that?" Misty exclaimed.

"I did? Wow, that's crazy," I said, still trying to fully recover from the confusion.

"That's not crazy, it's insane!" yelled Brock. "A human just took out a Pokemon by thrashing around! That's supposed to be impossible!"

"Well, I guess that there's no more hiding this," I said. "I need all of you to come with me; I can't show you this here."

"Ash, what's so important about that scale around your neck that made you go crazy?" Misty asked.

"That will be answered soon," I said, leading the group as best as I could to my room.

End of Part Ten

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A/N: So, what did you think? Ash is now Ashitar! Cool, huh? I wanted to go with a human/Pokemon thing, but I didn't want to go with the boring and well overused Ashachu thing, so that's why Grom was put into my story!

Also, on a side note here, I'd like to say that if anyone out there has any ideas that they might like to see put into my story, go ahead and PM me about it. If I think that I could use it, I'll put a note at the beginning of the chapter in which I use it that gives whoever came up with the idea credit for it. Any help with my story is appreciated!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!

Wingman11, Keeper of Fates, Overlord of Shiny Objects (Yasuo thinks that he can beat my shiny object army, we'll see about that!)


	11. Secrets Told and Plans Discussed

A/N: Hey everyone! Merry/Happy (insert your holiday here)! I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! I sure am. I got the newest Seether album! Yay! Also, if this chapter seems a little shorter, that's probably because of the fact that I am really busy with Christmas stuff. Yes, I am Christian, and if you don't like it, then get over it. I believe in Jesus, so there.

Anyway, Happy Holidays, and remember to leave your reviews! I'll consider each one as one more of my presents!

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Part Eleven – Secrets Told and Plans Discussed

"Tell your friend a lie. If he keeps it secret, then tell him the truth." – Proverb

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I had somehow made it up the stairs to my room, and I was glad to be able to flop down onto my bed. I was just about to drift to sleep when…

"Ash, don't you fall asleep yet! You still have to tell us what happened back there!" Misty yelled.

'Cruses, foiled again!' I thought. I forced myself to sit back up. I saw that Raidon was sitting next to me, and Misty and Carol were in the two chairs. Tyler and Brock occupied the floor, and I saw Lucky sticking his head out of my backpack.

"I'm not going to show you yet; this isn't the best place to show you," I said. "It's too public."

"So why did you bring us up here?" Misty asked.

"I wanted to let you meet the newest members of our team," I said, opening my backpack. Making special notice to hide the egg, I pulled out Lucky and the other five Pokeballs that held all of his friends.

"Alright, guys, it's time to meet my friends," I said, tossing the Pokeballs up. They opened, and before us stood the five oddly colored Pokemon. I set Lucky down and made it six.

"Misty, Brock, this is Lucky, Flare, Chill, Fright, Leaf, and Switch," I said, pointing to each respectively. They all looked at Brock and Misty, studying them carefully.

"Guys, this is Brock and Misty," I explained. "They were traveling with me before I met you. They were forced to go home for a little while, but now they're back."

"Hey!" Leaf said. "Nice to meet you."

"What did he say?" Brock asked.

"He said that it is nice to meet you," I translated.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you, too," Brock said.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yes, Misty?"

"Could you explain why the Oddish is named Flare, and the Growlithe is named Chill, and the rest of the names?"

"Sure," I said. "I'm not exactly sure why or how, but the color that they are represents their type. Flare is fire, Chill is ice, Fright is ghost, Leaf is grass, and as for Lucky and Switch…"

"Well? What about them?" Misty asked.

"I'm not sure what Lucky is, but I would have to guess that he's dark type. Switch, however, is currently a ground-fighting type," I explained.

"What do you mean by currently?" Brock asked.

"Switch strangely has the ability to change between types, but it happens randomly. She can't control it."

"I really have no idea what triggers it, but every so often, I just switch types. Sometimes, I even become types that I'm not sure even exist," Switch said.

"Please translate," Carol said.

"Sometimes, I wish that I wasn't the only one who can understand Pokemon," I sighed. "She said that she has no idea what causes it, and that sometimes, she becomes types that may not exist."

"That's neat," Misty said, and I nodded.

"So, when are you going to explain to us about what happened?" Brock asked. All of the Pokemon out had a curious expression on their face as if to say, "Wait, what happened?'

"After Grom is released from the ER. I don't want to leave him just yet, and I can't explain this to you here."

"What do we do until then?" Misty asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to be sleeping for quite a while," I said, and before they could ask any more questions, I was out cold.



After I fell into that dreamless sleep, I stayed that way until about five o' clock. I woke up on my own, and I slowly sat up. I noticed that all of my friends had left me to have some time to rest. I silently thanked them for that.

I looked down next to me and saw Raidon and Lucky lying next to me on either side. The rest of the Pokemon were on the floor, either quietly playing or sleeping.

I yawned loudly, getting the attention of all the Pokemon who were awake. I stretched, accidentally waking up Raidon and Lucky. They all gathered around me, curious to know about what I did. I smiled and said, "Sorry guys, but you'll have to wait until we leave, just like the others."

They all moaned, except for Raidon and Lucky, who had their ideas of what happened. Knowing them, they were probably correct.

I woke up the rest of the Pokemon, and they had the same curious look. I told them all what I told the rest, and they all had the same exact reaction. After that, I enjoyed a little playtime with them. We ended up getting into a little tournament between a few of them, and I tried my hand at sparring with them, just for fun.

I ended up beating Kiyoshi, Flare, and Chill. Then I faced off against Leaf and lost. I guess that some of my Pokemon strengths and weaknesses stay with me in my human form.

After a while, I decided that it was time to go see my friends and check up on Grom again. I returned everyone into his or her Pokeball, and put Lucky into my backpack. Then, Raidon jumped up onto my shoulder, and I headed out.

Down in the ER, everyone was sitting there, conversing. I entered, and said, "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"Well, look who finally woke up from the dead to join us!" exclaimed Tyler.

We all laughed at this, including Grom, who previously wasn't able to laugh without being in pain.

"Grom, it's nice to see that you're feeling better," I commented.

"I know, I feel good as new!" he said. "The stitches are already out."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I wasn't here for that," I said.

"No, no, it's fine. You were getting some well deserved rest," he said.

I nodded, and turned to my friends. "So, how exactly is he?" I asked.

"He's doing great, according to Nurse Joy," Carol said.

"Yeah, she said that he is actually ready to be released at any time," Misty finished.

"She's just waiting for your word," added Tyler.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" I said. "I'm sure that Grom here is more than ready to get back on his feet!"

I looked at Grom as I said this, and he nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's go get Nurse Joy and tell her that I'm ready to let Grom go."

My friends nodded, and we left the room.

Nurse Joy was in the lobby, where she usually is. My friends hung back, sitting at the table and discussing something else. I went up to Nurse Joy, and she said, "Ash, I see that your feeling better."

"Yeah, I just needed some rest," I said. "How's Yasuo?"

"He's doing just fine," she said. "I don't know what you did, but it didn't injure him; it only knocked him out."

"That's great! What's he doing now?"

"Well, we're trying to get him to rest, but he just won't sit still! He keeps attacking the table, shouting at the top of his lungs," explained Nurse Joy.

"Does the table happen to by in any way shiny?" I asked. Nurse Joy looked at me funny, but then nodded.

I laughed briefly, and then told her, "If he's acting like that, then there's nothing to worry about. Yasuo always acts like that; he really likes shiny objects. However, we still can't figure out why."

"In that case, get Tyler over here. If he's acting like you say is 'normal' for him, then I guess that I should return him to Tyler," Nurse Joy said.

I called Tyler over, and he came right away. Nurse Joy was holding the Gligar as best as she could, and when he saw Tyler, he jumped out of her arms and onto Tyler's head. Yasuo looked at me, but not with a look of hatred, but a look of respect.

"I underestimated you. You will be a great adversary," he said, almost calmly. He then took off flying around, like usual.

I didn't exactly know what he meant, but I figured that I would soon.

"So, my friends told me that Grom is ready to go, and that you're waiting for my word," I said, turning back to Nurse Joy, who was trying to recover from trying to hold Yasuo still.

"Oh, yes!" Nurse Joy said. "Since you brought him in, it is up to you to say when to let him go. Are you ready for him to be released?"

"Yeah, I think that he's even more ready to go than I am!" I said, giving a short laugh. Nurse Joy laughed too, and she went back to enter the release time into her computer.



"Ash, I don't know how to thank you for everything that you have done," Grom said.

"Remember what I said to you this morning?" I asked.

"You mean about you just wanting my permission to save my family?"

"Yes, that's all I want," I said.

We had just gotten out of the Pokemon Center, and we were only a few yards away from it. It had been fairly simple, I just had to wait until Nurse Joy had cleared it in the computer, and then I could take Grom out.

"OK, but don't you need some help getting into the Team Rocket base? Surely you'd like to have me there to help," Grom offered.

"No, I can't afford to risk another Pokemon's life in this mission. There's already too much at risk," I said. "And don't call me Shirley," I added, smirking. I remembered that from a movie called Airplane that I saw at a friend's house one night.

"What?"

"It's an inside joke," I said.

"Oh."

"Well, I guess that this is where we part paths," I said.

"Yeah," Grom said. "Oh, I guess that I should tell you where my cave is so that you can take my family back there once you're done."

"OK, Tyler, get out the map," I said.

He did so, and I held it up so that both Grom and I could see it. "It's right there," he said, pointing his claw at a rocky area right outside of Goldenrod.

"Wow, if you live there, then you must have been rampaging for quite a while before we found you!" I exclaimed.

"A couple of hours, you know, the usual," Grom said as if it were nothing.

I was astounded, but I shook it off once I noticed that Grom was leaving.

"Bye, Grom! I'll see you once we save your family!" I yelled.

"What family?" Misty asked.

"I tell you later, but right now, let's find somewhere that I can show you my secret."

They nodded, and we walked until we reached a small clearing that could fit us all as well as all of our Pokemon. It had a pond, which was lucky for Misty, since some of her Pokemon required water.

We let out all of our Pokemon, and I surveyed the huge group. There was Brock's Onix, Geodude, Vulpix, and Zubat. Misty's Goldeen, Psyduck, Staryu, and, of course, her Togepi, who was in her backpack. Most of them were greatly intrigued by Lucky, Chill, and the rest of the oddly colored Pokemon, except for Togepi, who was more interested in clapping and looking at Misty.

"Well, this should probably answer your question, but it will more than likely bring up about a thousand others," I said, getting everyone's attention.

"What does that-" Misty began to ask, but she was cut off as I willed myself to change, and I began glowing.

I finally finished glowing, and I noticed that everything was much larger again, and Brock and Misty were staring at me. I also noticed that Brock's eyes were actually open. It was a miracle!

"So, does that answer your question about how I knocked out Yasuo?" I asked. When all Misty, Brock, and most of the Pokemon did was stare, I decided that I needed to wake them up. I tried to use Screech, but for some reason, I couldn't. So instead, I asked Raidon to shock them, but I made special notice to say lightly.

After everyone recovered from the light shock, I asked my question again.

"Not really…" Misty said.

I sighed. "Well, I believe that it was because Larvitars can use the move thrash, and since I am technically a Larvitar, I can use that move while I am a human, which is exactly what I did," I explained.

"OK, we get that now, but why the heck are you a Larvitar?" Brock asked.

I looked at him, then at Misty, who was now holding Togepi in her arms. Togepi was looking at me strangely, and I heard her ask, "Why is my daddy a Pokemon? I thought that he was a human like mommy."

I smiled at this, and then looked back up at Brock.

"I was afraid that you would ask that," I said before I explained everything to them. I made sure that I left out the golden egg, but everything else I revealed to them.

"OK, Ash, forget about high gear, you've been in overdrive!" Brock exclaimed.

"Seriously, you got three Legendary Birds from some eggs you found, and they gave you some strange powers? Amazing!" Misty exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said. "I guess that catching nine new Pokemon, gaining the ability to talk to Pokemon and become one, learning that I am once again the chosen one for something else, and planning to infiltrate a Team Rocket base is a lot to happen in a few days."

"Wait a second, infiltrate a Team Rocket base?" Misty said. "You never said anything about that!"

'Ooh, darn it! Forgot about that!' I thought.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that," I said, rubbing the back of my neck as best as I could while I was a Larvitar.

"Ya think?" Misty said. Isn't she just a joy to be around?

"So why are you planning to infiltrate a Team Rocket base?" Brock asked.

"Well, since Lucky had a nightmare about where he and all of the others were tortured by Team Rocket, Tyler, Carol, and I decided that Team Rocket has gotten away with too much without punishment," I explained.

"What kinds of things have they done that are that bad?" asked Misty.

"Well, first off, while Tyler was challenging the Gyms a few years ago, he was in Goldenrod staying at the Pokemon Center when it was raided by Team Rocket. They stole his other two Pokemon, a Lanturn and an Espeon," I told them. They looked at Tyler who sadly nodded.

"Then," I continued, "there's the fact that when Carol here was eight, a Team Rocket thug killed her parents while they were out helping her catch her first Pokemon."

I looked at Carol to see that she was trying her best to hold her tears back. Mika was doing her best to comfort her, and Kane was lying in her lap.

"You already know how annoying Jessie and James are, and how many times they have screwed up our lives, plus the fact that Mewtwo was created by Team Rocket, and it nearly destroyed me."

Brock and Misty nodded and looked at each other.

"They tortured Lucky, Flare, Chill, Fright, Leaf, and Switch in their base," I said, looking at them. They were all shivering with fear, trying to repress bad memories.

"And finally, they attacked Grom and his family, hurting Grom really badly and taking his mate and son," I finished up.

"Wow, I never knew that they were that bad," Misty said.

"Yeah, neither did I. That's why they need to be stopped, but before we try anything, we need to figure out where they are," I explained.

"Well, first, before we talk about their location, could you please return to being a human?" Brock asked. "Talking to a Pokemon is kind of strange."

"You don't know the half of it," I muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, returning to human form.

"Thank you, Ash," Brock said. "Now, how are we ever supposed to find them?"

"Well, during Lucky's nightmare, he saw that he was in a large city with a Gym, lots of tall buildings, and a really tall black building with two towers," I explained. "Tyler, Carol, and I looked at all of the cities with Gyms and tall towers."

"We narrowed it down to Celadon, Saffron, Goldenrod, Ecruteak, and Olivine," Tyler picked up.

"And since Goldenrod was closest, we decided to head for there," Carol finished.

"That makes sense, but how are you going to find the building? Team Rocket could be anywhere, and I know that they won't be advertising their location to anyone who passes by!" Misty said.

"Lucky also did see in his nightmare that he was in a warehouse, and that it was underground, so we'll search for all of the underground buildings that we can find," I said.

"Yeah, that might work," Brock said. "The city will surely have a map somewhere, since it's such a big tourist attraction."

"Alright, glad that that is settled, but it's too late for us to be continuing our journey," Tyler said.

"Yeah, it is getting late," I said. "Brock, why don't you go ahead and cook us something for dinner while we get camp set up?"

"Sure thing, Ash!" he said, pulling out his cooking ware. Tyler went over and offered to help, and Brock gladly accepted. Misty and Carol started setting up the tents, while most of the Pokemon went to get firewood. As I was about to go join them, Raidon came up behind me, followed by Geodude and Onix.

"Hey, since you're partially a rock Pokemon now, I figure that we could be kind enough to take you to learn how to perform some of your moves, since you're new to this kind of thing," Onix said.

"I guess so, I mean, why not?" I said. "I could use some training on how to use my moves. They could come in handy during our attack on Team Rocket."

Onix and Geodude nodded, and Geodude said, "Just make sure to bring your backpack and TM's, too. I don't think that Larvitar can naturally learn Dig, and I think that it would be useful."

I nodded, and grabbed my backpack. Then, I hopped on Onix's back, and he took off to a close by, smaller clearing, where I got off and set down my backpack.

"So, do you have the TM for Dig?" Onix asked, and I rummaged around a little until I found it.

"Yeah, here it is," I said, holding it up.

"Alright, put it on the ground, and then transform back into a Larvitar," Onix said. I did as he told me, and then I asked, "What now?"

"Now put your forehead on the center of the TM," Geodude instructed me. "If it works, then you should have Dig learned in a few seconds."

I did just that, and the second my head touched the TM, I felt a strange mix of knowledge and a very large headache. It almost felt as if someone were drilling a hole in my brain, and then flooding it with information. It hurt more than the first time Raidon shocked me.

As soon as it was done, the TM broke, and I fell back. "Holy crap, that hurts!" I yelled, getting a few snickers from Raidon, Onix, and Geodude.

The rest of the night I spent training and learning how to use my moves. I found out that Onix's real name was Daichi, and Geodude's real name was Katashi. I was a natural at using Dig, but that was because the TM taught me instantly how to do it. At the end of the training session, in Larvitar form, I was able to use Bite, Leer, Sandstorm, and Dig easily and Screech and Rock Throw were starting to get easier. In human form, I was able only to use Leer and Sandstorm after concentrating really hard, and I couldn't use Bite at all. The only move that I could do really well was Dig.

By that time, dinner was ready, and we all returned to the campsite. Nothing much happened during dinner, but I did learn that Togepi's real name was Megumi, and that she thought that I was her dad. I also learned that Vulpix's name was Mitsuko, Zubat's name was Shou (SHU), Psyduck's name was Tsubame, Staryu's name was Hoshi, and Goldeen's name was Youko (YŌ-kō).

After dinner, we played with our Pokemon for a while, and I continued to practice my moves in my human form, attracting the attention of my friends. It definitely felt strange performing Pokemon attacks when my best friends were watching everything that I did. I just shrugged it off and told myself that I should get used to it and that there would be many people out there that would have the same reaction.

After a while, it got to be so late that we all said our goodnights and went to sleep. However, no matter what I did, I still had the creepiest feeling that someone was watching me.



General POV:

"Well, this is getting more and more interesting," said the man in the red cloak. He was still in front of the large TV screen, watching every move that Ash made.

"What would you like me to do, my lord?" said that same voice as before.

"Hmm, I do believe that he is going to go and invade the Team Rocket lab in Goldenrod. Maybe we should be there to welcome him," said the cloaked figure.

"Would you like me to get your staff, my lord?"

"Yes, and get my travel orb as well," the strange figure said. "I wish not to walk all the way there."

"As you wish, my lord," said the voice. The man could hear quick footsteps leaving the room.

"Well now, Ash, it is time that you and I met and discussed a few things," said the man before turning away from the screen and following his accomplice out of the room.

End of Part Eleven

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* * *

So, how was it? Consider it as my holiday gift to all of you faithful readers out there! Make sure that you review, and PM me any of your ideas, and I'll try to use them. I will make sure to give you credit for the idea, of course.

Happy Holidays!

Wingman11, Keeper of Fates, Overlord of Shiny Objects, Master of the Plot Twist


	12. Risking It All

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter! It's my last chapter of the year! My next update will be either New Years Day of the day after.

Disclaimer: I don't own what I don't own, and I own what I own. You know the drill.

* * *

Part Twelve – Risking It All

"No noble thing can be done without risks." – Michel de Montaigne



The next morning, I awoke to yet another jolt of electricity from Raidon. I mumbled and opened my eyes. Sitting up, I saw that Tyler and Brock were making breakfast, and Misty and Carol were talking about something. All of the Pokemon were out, and they were doing various things. Some were just talking, some were playing, and I even saw that Lucky and Mitsuko were battling.

"Your Thundershock seems to be getting weaker, Raidon," I said. "I barely felt it."

"That wasn't a Thundershock, Ash. That was my strongest Thunder attack!"

"Dang. I guess that it's because of the fact that I'm a ground type now," I said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot that you keep your Pokemon resistances as a human," Raidon said.

I stretched my arms and got out of my sleeping bag. I went into the tent and changed, and when I was done, breakfast was ready.

After we finished eating, Misty and Tyler cleaned dishes, while everyone else started packing up their things. Unfortunately for me, Daichi and Katashi had other plans for me.

"Hey, Ash!" I heard a loud voice bellow. I turned around to find Daichi, Katashi, and Hoshi behind me.

"Yes? What do you need?" I asked.

"It's time we worked on teaching you to build up resistances to types that have an advantage over you," Katashi said, looking at Hoshi.

"Crap, why did I agree to training with them?" I said, walking over to them.

The first few minutes involved Hoshi hitting me with various strengths of water type attacks while I was a Larvitar and a human. It hurt like crazy for the entire time, but soon enough, I was actually able to take a pretty powerful Bubblebeam without it knocking me down.

That was when Daichi decided that it was time that I actually participated in a real full-fledged battle. Of course, since they were still trying to build up my resistance to water, I was going to be battling Hoshi. What fun.

I took one side of the battlefield as a Larvitar, and Hoshi stood at the other. Everyone else noticed that something big was about to happen, and all of them came and gathered around to watch. It only made me feel more nervous.

"Hey, Ash!" I heard someone say. I looked to my left and saw that my Pokemon were trying to get my attention.

"Good luck, Ash!" Kiyoshi yelled.

"Watch out for the water attacks!" yelled Shinichi. 'Duh,' I thought.

""Don't worry if you don't win, Ash," Raidon said, walking up to me. "It's your first true battle, and it's against a type that has the advantage over you."

I nodded, and after wishing me good luck, Raidon walked off of the field. Then, the battle began.

The first thing that happened was that Hoshi charged me with a Tackle attack. It caught me off guard, and I couldn't avoid it. I was knocked down on my back, and hard. I forced myself to get up, and I saw Hoshi coming right back again. I dodged it by jumping over it. Then, I got an idea. It charged again, and I jumped straight up and landed on top of it. I then jumped up and used Rock Throw, hitting Hoshi dead on. The hit knocked it down into the ground, throwing up dust.

I landed a few feet from Hoshi and instead of waiting for the dust to clear, I used Sandstorm to give me some cover. I'd seen too many times where waiting for dust to clear ends up in a surprise attack. With the Sandstorm, I could still see, but Hoshi couldn't. I saw it looking around helplessly, trying to distinguish anything.

Outside of the battlefield, I heard Brock say, "Impressive. Ash must have known that Hoshi wouldn't be knocked out and it would probably launch an attack as soon as the dust cleared, so he used Sandstorm to keep Hoshi confused."

"Yeah, that's was a good move," I heard Tyler say. "I wonder what he'll do now?"

I knew exactly what I'd do. Using Dig, I tunneled underground, coming up right underneath Hoshi. The attack knocked it straight up into the air. I thought that it was just going to fall down and hit the ground, but instead, it stopped in midair. Suddenly, it charged at me again, using Tackle. I did the exact same thing that I did before, jumping on top of it.

However, before I could use Rock Throw, Hoshi used Bubblebeam, sending me flying straight up. I knew that if I hit the ground flat out, I was most likely done. I tried to figure out a way to impact the landing, but nothing came to mind. The ground was quickly rushing towards me. The sandstorm had already dissipated, and Rock Throw wouldn't do anything but make the ground rockier, making the landing hurt even more.

Then I remembered Dig. I knew exactly what to do. A second before impact, I used Dig, tunneling into the ground. I took almost no damage from hitting the ground, and when I came back up, I was behind Hoshi. I smirked and used Rock Throw. Hoshi heard the attack coming and used Water Gun to knock the boulder aside. However, it didn't expect what happened next. To tell the truth, neither did I.

I used an attack, but it wasn't Rock Throw. I lifted around ten large rocks out of the ground and used some type of force to throw them all at Hoshi. They hit it full force, knocking it onto the ground. It couldn't get up, and I was the winner.

However, nobody cheered. They had no idea what had just happened. Even Daichi was stunned. I looked around at all of the stunned faces, and said, "What?"

Daichi was the first to speak. "You just used an attack that Larvitar don't naturally learn, and that doesn't exist in TMs," he said.

"So how did I use it, and what the heck was it?" I asked, very confused.

"Well, I think I may know," Brock said. Everyone turned to face him.

"That move that Ash just used was called Ancient Power," Brock explained.

"OK, now that we know what it's called, how did I use it?"

"Well, I believe that it involves breeding. Grom may have known how to use it through his breeding. His father must have known how to use it, so that means that he does, too," Brock said. "And since we figure that he was the basis for your Larvitar form, he passed the move onto you."

"That's weird, but really cool," I said.

Misty snapped back to reality and quickly got up to heal Hoshi, followed by Brock. They quickly revived it, and it came over to me and congratulated me on my first victory. I thanked it, and then all of the other Pokemon swarmed me, congratulating me. It felt amazing.

Then Daichi took me aside and said, "Well, we should probably spend a little time on getting you able to use that move easily."

I nodded, and he made all of the other Pokemon move away so that I could use it. I concentrated on lifting the boulders out of the ground, and strangely, I did so easily. Then, I concentrated on throwing them. That was exactly what happened.

"Wow, Ash," Daichi said. "You're a natural at Ancient Power!"

"I guess so," I said. "I wonder why…"

"Probably because of the fact that Ancient Power is an egg move for Larvitar," Raidon said.

I was confused, and so were most of the other Pokemon. "Um, what the heck is that?" I asked.

"It's a move that a Pokemon knows and can easily use right after it hatches from its egg," Raidon explained. "Since Larvitar can only learn Ancient Power from their father as an egg move, then that means that Larvitar who can use Ancient Power can use it easily."

"Oh, that's neat," I said.

"Yes, it is," Daichi said. "It means that you now have another move that doesn't take a lot of concentration for you to use. Another move that you can use in an instant."

"Yes, but can he use it as a human?" Katashi asked.

"I'll try it out," I said, turning back into a human. I concentrated just like I did earlier, and the exact same thing happened.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Katashi.

"Cool," I said, smiling.



After I had finished my own packing, we withdrew all of our Pokemon. Of course, Megumi stayed in Misty's arms, and Raidon was on my shoulder. Lucky was in my backpack, curled around the egg. We reached Goldenrod in a matter of minutes, and we immediately checked into the Pokemon Center.

As soon as we put our things into our rooms, we all went down into the lobby and sat down in front of a computer. We pulled up the Internet, and looked up a map of the city.

"Alright, so Lucky said that he saw an underground tunnel, and a warehouse-like room," Tyler summed up.

"So we need to look for an entrance into any underground area," Brock said.

"That's easy," Misty said. "I heard a rumor that Goldenrod has a system of underground tunnels that have shops scattered about."

"So that's the map that we'll look at first," Brock said, looking over the map. "Try to find a place that looks like it leads into the underground."

"There!" I said, pointing at a building that was to the left of the Pokemon Center. "That building has a small signpost in front of it that says 'The Underground'."

Brock clicked on it, and sure enough, a map of the underground popped up. We studied the map, and found that there was only one warehouse in the entire underground. Brock zoomed in on the layout of the warehouse, revealing that there was one entrance that led into the main room, and we saw that there were many smaller rooms branching off of the main one.

"Alright, so where should we enter this place?" Brock said.

"Obviously not the front doors," Carol said.

"Well, duh," Misty said. Carol rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the map.

"We should try to find a way into one of the smaller rooms," I said.

"Yeah, right!" Misty said. "There are no other entrances into the place."

"Yes, but remember that this place is underground," I said, winking.

"You don't mean…" Tyler began.

"Yep, that's exactly what I mean," I said.

"But how are you going to get us all down there?" Brock asked.

"I'll dig a large enough hole for all of us to crawl down," I said. "Plus, I'll be able to check all of the rooms by peeking into them. That way, we can enter into a room that doesn't have any guards in it."

"Alright, then. That takes care of how we get in. But what are we going to do once we're in?" Brock asked.

"Well, I figure that the warehouse has to have a storage place for everything they steal, right?" I asked.

"Most likely," Carol answered.

"So we go in and take all of the Pokemon they took and release them. I could tell all of them where they are, and they could either try to find their trainers if they are close, or go to the wild."

Tyler quickly looked up. "Do you think that maybe…" he said.

"I don't know, Tyler," I said, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "They might still be there, and they might not."

Tyler smiled, saying, "I hope that they are still there."

I nodded, and turned back to the map on the screen. "Well, which room do you think has the stolen Pokemon in it?" I asked.

"Well, I'd have to guess that it's the largest of the smaller rooms," Misty said.

"That would be this one," Brock said, pointing to a fairly large room near the main entrance to the warehouse.

"Then that's where I'll look first," I said.

"There's only one problem," Misty said. "We have no idea where this warehouse is above ground!"

"That's easy to solve," Carol said. "Just measure how many feet from the stairs the warehouse is, and then measure the same distance from the staircase in the building."

"That's brilliant!" Brock said.

"Thanks," Carol said, blushing.

"So, according to the little thing up here, ten feet is equal to the size of my finger," Brock said, putting his finger next to the distance marker. "So that means that the warehouse is around…" Brock said, measuring how many finger lengths from the staircase the warehouse is.

"Forty feet to the north of the staircase and twenty to the east," Brock said once he had finished.

"Now, where is that above ground?" I asked.

"Let me see," Brock said, pulling up the map of the city. "OK, so the distance marker is the same as the underground map, so let's see here. Forty feet north…" he said, measuring it out, "and twenty feet east… Right here!"

He pointed at a small neighborhood, just a few blocks away from here, at the middle of a large intersection.

"So that's where I'll dig," I said. "Shall we go to this place?"

Everyone nodded, and I said, "Alright everyone, let's grab our bags and get to this."

We shut down the computer and headed to our rooms. I grabbed my bag, and Lucky stuck his head out of it. "What's up, Ash?" he asked.

"It's time to get back at the Rockets," I said.

"Finally."

I smiled, and he pulled his head back into the bag. I exited the room and saw that everyone was ready to go already. I looked at them and said, "Let's do this."



It was around noon when we arrived at the intersection. There were kids out, playing with each other in their yards.

Once we got there, I handed my bag to Brock and said, "Hold this while I find a place to change. I shouldn't be using Dig as a human with all these other people here."

He nodded, and I walked over to a shady area between two houses. It was the perfect place to transform, since there were no windows on either of the houses and they were close enough to each other that nobody could see in here unless they were trying. I went through the process of transforming, and as soon as I was done, I returned to the group.

"Alright, let's walk a little ways away from the intersection so that I don't tunnel down straight into the main room of the warehouse," I said. We walked a few feet south (for me, it was more like waddling, since my legs were now so short) and stopped on an unoccupied lawn. I looked up at my friends, and they nodded. I nodded back, and prepared to use Dig.

I tunneled into the ground and stopped to look around. I turned north and tunneled until I found a concrete wall. I put a small hole into it, and looked in.

I saw a large room with lots of equipment. A door on the right of the room had a large lock on it, and it said "Vault" on it. I knew that that was the storage for the stolen Pokemon. I tunneled that way, around the concrete, following it until I reached a corner.

I continued to follow it for a small distance. When I felt that I had gone far enough, I punctured another hole in the concrete, and saw that I was looking down an aisle of Pokeballs, each one having a small label on it, telling the species, place taken from, and the date stolen. I knew that this was the room I was looking for.

I went back to the opening of the tunnel, making it large enough for a human to crawl through. Once I got back to the surface, I saw that my friend were sitting down, discussing plans. When I resurfaced, I said, "Hey, guys!"

Everyone jumped, and I snickered at them. They looked at me and Misty yelled, "Why you little, why did you do that?!"

"Sorry, didn't realize that you would get that surprised," I said. "Anyway, I found the room. Let's go."

They nodded, and I crawled back down. My friends followed me. We reached back to the end of the tunnel, and I quickly punctured a few holes in a circular pattern around the small hole that I had made. As soon as I finished, I grabbed the center hole and pulled inward, breaking out a large hole that we could crawl through.

I set the circle of concrete down in the tunnel, and I crawled over it into the room. I stood up and transformed back into a human. Everyone followed me out.

"Wow, that's a lot of Pokemon," Tyler said.

"Yeah, it sure is," I said. I immediately started grabbing Pokeballs and cramming them into my bag. The rest of the group followed suit, except for Tyler. He was scouring through the Pokeballs, searching for his two lost Pokemon. He never found them.

Carol, on the other hand, did. "Hey, Tyler, what day did you say that Team Rocket took your Pokemon?" she asked.

"May Fifteenth," he answered.

"I think that I may have found your Pokemon, then," Carol said, two Pokeballs in her hands.

Tyler rushed over there and grabbed the balls, looking at the information. The slip on one read: Espeon, Goldenrod Pokemon Center, May Fifteenth. The other said: Lanturn, Goldenrod Pokemon Center, May Fifteenth.

Tyler immediately threw up the Pokeballs, releasing the Pokemon inside. After a flash of red light, an Espeon and a Lanturn were sitting in front of Tyler. They looked up in fear, as if expecting pain. When they saw Tyler, they seemed confused. "Who is that guy? I kind of recognize him, but I just can't place it," Lanturn asked Espeon.

"Guys, it is you!" he yelled, hugging each of them.

"Wait, where have I heard that voice before?" Espeon asked.

"Could it be?" Lanturn said.

I smiled and said, "Yes, it is Tyler."

The two of them looked up in surprise, and I said, "Don't ask now, there isn't enough time for me to tell you how, just know that that really is Tyler."

They then looked at Tyler, and Espeon tackled Tyler, licking his face. Lanturn flopped over next to Tyler and Tyler patted his head while stroking Espeon.

"I missed you two so much!" he said, tears forming in his eyes.

I smiled at the three and let them have their moment. I turned back to stuffing Pokeballs in my backpack. Slowly everyone else did, too, including Tyler and his newly reunited Pokemon.

Once we had filled up our bags, we climbed back out and released all of the Pokemon in the space between two houses. The Pokeballs, not having a hand to return to, fell to the ground next to their respective Pokemon. The Pokemon looked around, confused at the fact that they were outside and not in a warehouse, and they started conversing with each other to try and figure out where they were.

"Settle down, Pokemon. You are no longer in the clutches of Team Rocket," I said, and all of the Pokemon looked at me, immediately quieting down.

"You are free to go now," I said. "You can try to return to your previous trainer, wherever they are, or you can smash your Pokeball, which should be lying next to you, and go to the wild."

"You mean to tell us that we are free?" I heard a Meowth ask.

"Yes, you all are," I said.

The Pokemon started celebrating. Various cheers of excitement and joy were exclaimed, and some of the Pokemon started jumping up and down. A few were confused at how I understood the Meowth, but most didn't truly care. Then, one small Magnemite floated forward and said, "Excuse me."

"Yes, what do you need?" I asked.

"Could you tell me what city we are in?" it said in its metallic voice.

"Oh, right! I forgot to say that," I said, turning to the mass of Pokemon. "Everyone, be quiet for a few more seconds! I have one more thing to say!"

Everyone settled down, and I continued. "I forgot to tell you that you are currently in Goldenrod. I believe that this should most likely help all of you who wish to return to your trainers find them," I told them.

The Pokemon had mixed reactions. Some were saying, "My trainer isn't too far from here!" Others were saying, "Well, this is going to be a long journey." A few of them had no idea where their trainer lived. That's when I got a great idea.

"Hey, all of you who don't know where your trainers are, gather around me!" I shouted. They did as I told them. There were about thirty or so.

"I've got an idea," I said. "Since we don't know where your trainers are, we could always take you to a TV station and have them send out a message that you were rescued from Team Rocket and maybe your trainers would come find you if they saw it."

"But what about trainers who just want to claim us as an easy capture?" a Shuckle said.

"That's easy, you can say yes or no to a trainer. If it is your original trainer, you say yes. If not, you say no," I explained. "What do you think?"

The Pokemon looked around at each other, and they all had the same look on their face. "Well, if it gives us a chance at finding our trainers, then we'll give it a shot!" the Shuckle said.

I nodded, and looked up to see that all of the rest of the Pokemon were already gone, save for one lone Sneasel. It was holding its Pokeball in its claw, and it seemed to be hesitating on smashing it. I walked away from the other Pokemon and sat down next to the Sneasel.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

It jumped, and turned to face me. Once it saw that I was the one who addressed it, it said, "Well, my trainer was killed when I was stolen, so I should just smash this thing and return to the wild." From its voice, I could tell that the Sneasel was a guy.

"So, what's stopping you?"

"Well, if I do that, I'm giving up the chance to go on adventures, and I figure that I could find a trainer to take me in," he said.

"That's a good idea, but I'm afraid that since that Pokeball is a Team Rocket Pokeball, nobody would accept you," I told him.

"I know, that's what makes this such a hard decision," he said.

"Hmm," I said, thinking. I got yet another idea (I am just chock full of these today, aren't I?) and said, "Why don't you join us? I think that Carol wants a new Pokemon with her."

The Sneasel looked up and said, "Really?" I nodded.

"OK, which one is Carol?" he asked.

"Right there," I said, pointing at Carol. She was currently sorting out the remaining Pokeballs. The Sneasel walked over to her and tugged at her sleeve. I was right behind him.

"What's he want?" Carol asked me.

"He wants to be your newest Pokemon," I said, and her eyes lit right up.

"Really?" she asked Sneasel. He nodded and held up his Pokeball, which Carol gladly took. She removed the information on the Pokeball and picked up Sneasel.

"So, does he have a name, Ash?" Carol asked.

"Let me find out," I said. I turned to Sneasel and asked, "Do you have a name?"

"Actually, I can't remember what my real name was. I've been so used to being called Sneasel that I forgot it," he told me.

"Well, Carol, it looks like you get the opportunity to name him," I told Carol. She smiled and began thinking.

"What about Razor?" she finally said. Sneasel thought for a second, and then nodded in agreement.

"Razor it is," I said, and Razor looked at me and said, "Thank you."

"No problem," I said. I turned to everyone else and said, " Alright, let's get moving again. Back into the base."

We all crawled back down the hole and continued grabbing Pokeballs and stuffing them into our bags. Unfortunately, that was when everything took a turn for the worse.

"So these kids are the ones taking our stolen Pokemon," I heard a voice say. It seemed soulless, and I turned around quickly to see a man standing there. He was dressed in a suit with a red R on the left side. He was tall and his face was stuck in a perpetual sneer. There were two Team Rocket bodyguards on either side of him.

"Who are you?" Tyler quickly asked.

"You don't know?" the man said. "Well, let me enlighten you. I am Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket."

"You're the boss of Team Rocket?" Carol yelled.

"That was what I said," Giovanni said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Now, I must ask you to put back those Pokeballs you have in your backpacks and pockets. Once you have done that, you will leave this place and tell no one about it."

"And if we refuse?" Misty asked, very annoyed.

"Well, I would be forced to do this," he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a gun and quickly took aim and fired straight at Misty.

The bullet, however, never hit its intended target. The moment he fired, I jumped into action. I quickly ran in front of Misty and spread my arms wide.

I saw the bullet come at me, and I felt it plunge straight into my chest.

End of Part Twelve



* * *

A/N: Yes, I really did just do that. Will he live or die? Don't ask me, I won't tell. You guys are stuck until next year! :3 Ha ha!


	13. Fighting Back

A/N: Happy New Year! I hope that you had a great time last night! Anyway, here's the next chapter! Enjoy, and review at the end.

* * *

Part Thirteen – Fighting Back

"You can shed tears that she is gone,  
or you can smile because she has lived.  
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,  
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.  
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,  
or you can be full of the love you shared.  
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,  
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.  
You can remember her only that she is gone,  
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.  
You can cry and close your mind,  
be empty and turn your back.  
Or you can do what she'd want:  
smile, open your eyes, love and go on." – David Harkins

(I know, long quote, but it matches the chapter)



I remember childhood memories where my old friends in Pallet and I used to play together. We played all sorts of games: tag, hide-and-seek, and we even raced each other. But the one game that I remember most was our self-made game of what we called "Base Raids".

It was a simple game. One team would build a base out of assorted items, and another team was supposed to try and raid it. The team who made the base would have dart guns and they would try to protect the base. If you were hit with a dart, you were out. The game ended when either the raiding team was able to steal the item hidden in the base or the defending team shot all of the people on the opposing team.

When I first entered the Team Rocket base, I started to think of these things. I remembered the time that I had been the last one standing and I had successfully taken the item and won the game. I also remembered times when I had gotten hit by a dart. I felt so upset that I had failed.

When the bullet entered my chest, I noticed two things. One, it felt _nothing_ like a dart. Two, I didn't feel disappointment. I felt extreme pain, loss, and, strangely, happiness, all at the same time.

Now, don't get me wrong, I never wanted in my life to die. I just felt happy that I had saved my best friend's life.

All of this ran through my head as I was struck with the bullet. It only took a second or two, and then, I felt extremely weak. I couldn't support my whole weight, and I fell down on one knee, then on both. I looked up to see Giovanni smiling.

"Well, that wasn't what I had expected, but I believe that it still gets the point across," he said, showing no sign of surprise in his voice. "With that, I'll take my leave. I do hope that you do as well, for your own good." He motioned to the two Rockets next to him, and they turned and left, shutting the door.

Once he left, everyone's attention turned to me. I smiled as best I could, and managed to say, "So, I guess that I'm out of the game."

"Game? What does that mean?" Tyler said.

I smiled and explained. "When I was still living in Pallet, I played a game with my old friends, and we called it "Base Raids". If you were hit with dart, you were out."

"Are you saying that…" Brock said, trailing off.

"Yep, I'm done. There's probably no chance of me getting out of this," I said, knowing what he meant.

"No," Misty mumbled. "No, no, no, NO!" She screamed, each 'no' getting louder. "You can't just give up, Ash! You _can't_!"

"Misty, you know it yourself," I said, looking at her. I saw tears streaming down her face. "I'm too hurt from that bullet."

"But why just give up? You've never given up before! Why now?" she yelled.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "It's just some feeling that I have. It's telling me that my time is up, and that there's nothing that we can do. It's over, Misty. I can't go on anymore."

After I struggled to say that, I began coughing violently, spurting up a little blood in the process. It dripped to the floor, and for the first time, I looked down and saw that blood was covering my T-shirt around the wound. I laughed.

"Well, that's quite a cut I've got there," I joked. Nobody laughed. "Tough crowd," I said.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Ash," Brock said.

"Sorry, Brock. Just trying to lighten the mood," I said. "It's too glum for my liking."

I reached down and grabbed the Pokeballs around my belt and released everyone in them. I figured that they should know. I then did my best to twist around and grab my backpack. I reached in and grabbed all of the other Pokeballs, excluding the three Birds. Still too risky here. I let them out and they looked around, confused.

"Ash, where are-" Hana began to say before looking at me and noticing the blood and the hole in my chest.

"ASH!" Kiyoshi yelled.

"Hmm, that's a first," I said. "Kiyoshi yelling. I hope that Brock could record it for me."

"What the heck happened?" Flare asked.

"Well, during our raid of the Team Rocket base, Giovanni came in here and shot me," I explained.

"We've got to get him to a hospital, or a Pokemon Center, or…or…somewhere!" Switch babbled.

"Whoa, there, Switch. Calm down," I said. She settled and looked at me. "There's no helping me now."

"What are you talking about?" Shinichi said.

"I've accepted the fact that I'm going to die. There's no stopping it. My life is over," I said.

"It- it can't be!" Leaf stammered. "You can't- we've got to- there's got to be something we can do!"

"I'm sorry, guys. There's nothing you or I can do," I said.

I gathered them all around me and hugged them one last time. "You guys have to go on with your lives. Don't dwell on my death. Don't let it stop you from living," I said to them, as well as my friends.

"Ash," I heard Misty say. I broke my embrace with my Pokemon and looked at her. "If you have to die, then let me say one more thing," she said.

She looked straight at me and opened her mouth to say something. What she said surprised me greatly.

"I still expect the money for my bike from your mother!" Aw, isn't it just heartwarming?

"Why am I surprised that that's the only thing you can think of when I'm dying?" I asked no one in particular.

When Tyler, Carol, and most of the Pokemon looked extremely confused, Misty explained. "When I met Ash, he borrowed my bike and then wrecked it. I was traveling with him to constantly remind him that he still owed me."

"Yep, that was how we met, and this is how we leave each other," I said. Attention returned to me.

"Ash, you've got to hold on," Tyler said.

I cringed as a huge wave of pain split my nerve endings in my entire chest area.

"I'm sorry everyone. I can't last for much longer," I managed to say. "This is where I take my final breath."

"No, Ash!" Misty yelled.

"Goodbye, guys," I said. "I'll really miss you."

With that, I couldn't take the pain any longer, and I collapsed, my body going completely limp. I was dead.



General POV:

As soon as Ash had collapsed, Brock ran and checked his pulse. Nothing. No breathing, no blood pumping, no heartbeat. Just silence.

Brock stood up and shook his head sadly. There was more silence. Then Misty burst out in a new wave of sobbing and crying. Brock did his best to comfort her, holding her head and gently shushing her.

However, despite his calming actions, Misty didn't calm down. Instead, she asked, "Why didn't he just use Ancient Power or Rock Throw on Giovanni?"

"I guess that he didn't want to reveal that to Giovanni," Brock said. "He knew that if he did, Giovanni would try to capture him, and that would give Team Rocket a powerful weapon."

"Yeah, but if he did, he would at least be alive," Misty said through sobs.

"Yes, he would," Brock said. He couldn't help but let a few tears drop.

Tyler was standing over next to his Espeon and Lanturn, with Yasuo on his head. Tyler wasn't crying, but he had that look that usually came before one starts to cry. Yasuo was even sitting still in respective silence. Espeon and Lanturn could tell that Tyler was sad, and they were trying to make him feel better. Just like Misty, however, he couldn't be cheered up.

Ash's Pokemon were taking it the hardest, especially Raidon. They all huddled around him, staring at him. They just couldn't believe it. Raidon was the first to move. He let the hot tears roll down his red cheeks and drip to the floor. Nothing special happened this time, however. The tears just fell and landed.

Shinichi felt the tears at his cheeks as well, and Hana was weeping openly. Kiyoshi was able to contain himself enough to let him try to comfort the others, but soon, he felt tears in his eyes, too.

Lucky was crying along with the rest of the oddly colored Pokemon. Leaf seemed to be most affected. He kept mumbling things like, "Why did he have to die?" and, "I can't believe this." They were all trying to comfort each other, but none were able to stop crying.

Carol, who was sitting back during the entire event, was crying quietly at first. She didn't speak during the entire event, and when Ash collapsed, she started to cry openly. Razor sat next to her, feeling tears of his own. He thought, 'I barely knew him, but he was the one who saved me. He gave me a new chance. Then he just goes and gets himself killed. Why?'

Carol's sadness continued to build and build. She started to sob loudly. Then she started to talk.

"Why?" she said. "Why did he just die? I had just started to feel close to him. Then he just dies!" She started screaming now. "Why did he do this to me? Why didn't he even try to live?"

"Carol, calm down," Brock said.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN!" she yelled. "HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! The one person who gave me a new hope just died! I started to feel as if he were a brother to me, and he just dies!" She was having a hard time speaking through all of her sobbing.

"Now, Carol, it's going to be alright," Brock said.

"No it won't! Everyone who I get close too just dies! First my mom and dad get murdered, now Ash! I can't take it!" She was bawling wildly now. Razor backed away from her, slightly scared.

"CAROL, LISTEN!" Brock yelled, grabbing Carol's arms and holding her down. She stopped bawling and looked up into his eyes.

"You'll be alright," Brock said in a calming and much quieter voice. "You've just got to calm down and let it go."

Carol was able to compose herself and she nodded slowly, sniffling. "Thanks, Brock," she said.

Brock nodded, and he let go of her arms. She stood up and Razor came back to her. She picked him up and hugged him, and Razor hugged back, knowing that it would comfort Carol.

"So, what should we do now?" Brock asked.

"I really don't know," Misty said, wiping tears off of her face.

"Maybe we should just leave," Tyler said.

"But what about the Pokemon?" Misty asked.

"Let's take the Pokeballs we already have put in our bags and let them go, to start," Brock suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that," Misty said. They crawled out of the hole, leaving Ash's body where it lay.

"Shouldn't we get his body out of there, too?" Tyler said, looking back into the room where Ash's body was.

"Let's do that after we save these Pokemon," Brock said. "I don't think that he's going anywhere."

They exited the tunnel and let out all of the Pokemon that they had grabbed. Since none of them could understand Pokemon, they had Raidon tell the Pokemon where they were and everything that Ash had said earlier. They understood, and most of the Pokemon left. There were about seven more who had no idea where their trainers were. Raidon explained what they were going to do, and they agreed.

After they were back in their Pokeballs, Brock looked back at the hole in the ground. "Now, let's go get his body out of there," he said.

Everyone nodded, and they crawled back down the hole. Back in the room, nothing was touched.

They saw Ash lying there, motionless, and something strange happened. They suddenly found themselves angry. They couldn't put a reason behind it, but it just happened. Even the Pokemon felt this anger welling up inside them. It seemed to come with a goal, though.

"We shouldn't just take this," Carol said. "We have to punish Giovanni for this."

"You're right," Misty said. "He's gotten away with too much already."

"But what can we do?" asked Tyler. "We can't kill him; then we'd get punished for it."

"Yeah, but we could always get his base destroyed. That would attract the attention of the police, and when they get here, we just make sure that Giovanni is still here," Carol explained.

"Then Giovanni goes to jail, and Team Rocket gets disbanded!" Misty finished.

"That plan sounds solid, but how can we destroy this place?" Tyler asked.

"Leave that to me," Brock said, holding a Pokeball.



Giovanni's POV:

'How I hate waiting,' I thought, sitting in the small area that this warehouse designated to be my temporary room while I waited here. 'Why did I even decide to come here?'

I surveyed the small room. It was sparely furnished, with only a small desk and three chairs, including mine. There was a small bookshelf situated on the opposite side of the room, and that was it. The state of the room wasn't much better. The wallpaper was dark and dingy, and the carpet was hideous. I hated it here.

I made a face in disgust, and tried to remember why in the world I decided to make a visit here.

'Right, now I remember,' I thought, 'the escaped experiments.'

I came to see if the escapees were captured yet, and if the machinery was fixed enough to continue with the experiments. I was greatly disappointed to hear that the experiments were still missing, and that the machines were still broken from their escape.

I sighed. 'How hard is it to track six escaped Pokemon?' I thought, angry at the worthless grunts and executives that let them escape.

I had at least been able to take out some of my anger when I fired that bullet at that kid. I was pretty sure that those pathetic excuses for thieves were long gone by now.

Around ten or so minutes had passed after I had returned to my office. There was still no sign of my helicopter arriving yet. I made sure to make a mental note to lower his pay for being late. 'Lazy pilot,' I thought. 'How hard is it to fly a helicopter from Mahogany to Goldenrod?'

Just then, I heard a knock on my door.

"Yes, you may enter," I said routinely, pressing the button that would unlock the door. A Rocket Executive walked in as the door opened.

"Sir, there appears to be an Onix in the main room, wrecking everything," he said.

"Well, what's so important about that?" I asked. "Just knock it out and capture it!"

"Yes, but there's something else that you might like to hear," he said.

"What is it?" I said, impatiently.

"There are six Pokemon that are protecting the Onix from harm."

"Do you happen to mean what I think you mean?" I asked, my interest now peaking.

"Yes, sir, they are the six escaped Pokemon," he answered.

"Take me to them," I ordered, standing up.

"Yes sir, right this way," the executive said, leading me out of the room.

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General POV:

In the main room of the warehouse, complete chaos was unfolding. Rubble was being tossed everywhere as Daichi thrashed around the room, knocking over machinery, supports, and people. Six Pokemon rode on his back, firing attacks at any person or Pokemon that got near Daichi.

These Pokemon were known to the Team Rocket members as the escaped experiments, but they knew themselves as Lucky, Flare, Chill, Fright, Leaf, and Switch.

With them protecting Daichi, nothing got anywhere close to him. He was free to take down whatever he felt like. And that was exactly what he did. Almost everyone had run away by now, and the room was empty of people.

Until Giovanni appeared on the scene. Daichi immediately quit thrashing and stared straight at Giovanni. Giovanni twitched, seeing a giant rock snake glaring at him. He was not showing any fear, but Daichi knew that Giovanni felt at least a little fear.

Daichi started thrashing about once more, which made Giovanni back away.

Then, out of the dust being thrown up by the rampaging Onix, Giovanni was blasted down by a powerful Hydro Pump.

Giovanni tried to pull himself up, but before he could, he was hit with a massive Thunderbolt. It ripped through his drenched body, singeing his clothes and hair.

However, after the bolt, he was attacked by a Razor Leaf before he could even try to move. It shredded his clothes more, and gave him multiple cuts.

Then a blast of fire surrounded him, trapping him in a Fire Ring. He couldn't go anywhere unless he felt like getting killed in the inferno.

Past the fury of the fire, he saw the Onix settle down and slither over to him. On its head sat four figures, shaped like humans, and quite a few Pokemon. As they got closer, he could tell that they were the four thieves from earlier and their Pokemon, but he could never fully see their shapes through the fire.

"Well, guys, do you think that he's had enough punishment?" Giovanni heard a girl's teasing voice say.

"Hmm, I don't know," another voice said. This one was a male. "Should we let him go?"

"I think he still needs to be punished more," a deeper male voice said.

"Yes, let's," a light female voice said.

Giovanni couldn't take this any longer. "What do you want from me, you thieves?" he screamed.

"What do we want?" the first voice said. "Well, for starters, we'd like our friend back."

"But since you can't give us that, we'll settle for seeing the man who shot him burn slowly in his own warehouse," the third voice finished.

Giovanni was angry. Angry past all recognition. Then he hatched a quick plan.

"What can I do to have you spare my life?" he said, faking pleading.

"You can disband Team Rocket and rot in jail," the fourth voice said, surprisingly cold.

"Done, just spare me!" Giovanni yelled.

"Alright, Shinichi, douse the flames," the first voice said.

A blast of water attacked the flames, instantly putting them out. Giovanni could finally see the four figures, but he still had no idea what voices belonged to whom. He did see that the six escaped Pokemon were among the Pokemon with the people.

As soon as the flames were out, he grabbed one of his Pokeballs and released his Machamp. Giovanni yelled, "Quick, grab the Squirtle!"

Machamp jumped up quickly and grabbed Shinichi, and quickly jumped back down to Giovanni, who was now holding his gun. When Machamp returned to Giovanni's side, he pointed the gun to Shinichi's head.

"So, how easy it is that the table's can turn," Giovanni said, an evil smile spreading across his face.

Misty, Brock, Carol, and Tyler were shocked. "How could your Machamp move that fast?" Tyler exclaimed.

"It involved a lot of long and painful training," Giovanni answered, and Machamp visibly shivered at the memories of his training.

"Now, if you value the life of this Squirtle, I suggest that you leave, now!" Giovanni yelled.

Misty hung her head, knowing that they were beaten. Just then, a chunk of roof fell, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, including Machamp.

This distraction was just enough to loosen Machamp's concentration a little. That small lapse in concentration allowed Shinichi to use Rapid Spin and break free of Machamp. Machamp fell back, and Shinichi quickly used a Water Gun to knock Giovanni back.

Shinichi quickly jumped back to Daichi and climbed back up to Misty and everyone else. Giovanni recovered from the shock of the Water Gun and hoisted himself up. Machamp was already up and glaring at the Squirtle that had just escaped him.

"And now the table has turned back in our favor," Brock said.

Giovanni was extremely pissed off now. He had everything looking in his favor, and that stupid Squirtle had just caused all of the chips to slide back over to the thieves.

"You will regret what is about to happen," Giovanni growled, aiming his gun right at Brock's head.

But just as he was about to fire, an explosion rocked the warehouse, and a huge hole appeared in the ceiling. The explosion made Giovanni loose his grip on the gun, sending it skidding across the floor. A shower of rocks tumbled from the hole, crushing the gun, and knocking Giovanni to the floor.

End of Part Thirteen

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A/N: What caused the rocks? Who knows? Oh, right, I do. He he. Sorry about Ash, I needed to kill him for something later. If you want to know, here's my little tidbit of advice: Patience is a virtue. You'll just have to wait. Sorry! So, see you next chapter! Don't forget to review the story!


	14. Destruction

A/N: Hello there people! Here comes Chapter number 14! This is what around five hours of self-enduced solitude in my room mixed with my favorite Seether CD playing can churn out. I did, however, quickly go over it this morning and added a little bit more to it as to explain cerain important things. Anyway, enjoy as always, and leave comments, or I will _not_ hesitate to send my army of shiny objects after you!

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Part Fourteen – Destruction

"Man has no choice but to love. For when he does not, he finds his alternatives lie in loneliness, destruction and despair." – Unknown

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Everyone who had seen the room before would hardly recognize it by now. Places where machinery stood were replaced by places littered with scrap metal. Tall support beams were now reduced to crumbled bases and pieces of concrete. Much of the walls were torn down and mostly gone. Any wall that remained standing had huge holes put through them. The concrete floor was littered with rocks, concrete, metal, wiring, and other countless objects. One could look upon the room and think that a large bomb went off inside it. The one thing that remained intact was the room containing the stolen Pokemon and Ash's body.

But there was one difference that had the attention of most everyone in the room. It was the large hole that had just appeared in the ceiling. Brock, Misty, Tyler, Carol, and even Giovanni were staring at it. There were mixed expressions on their faces. Brock was looking at it in wonder. Tyler was trying to figure out what made it. Misty and Carol had already made their hopeful assumptions and were looking at the hole with pleading eyes, willing Ash to be jumping down the hole at any moment.

Giovanni, however, was staring at the hole in hatred. He was lying on the floor, surrounded by boulders. Whatever had just created it caused him to loose his gun and his only advantage.

The Pokemon were staring at the hole with wonder as well. All of Ash's Pokemon had made the same assumption that Misty and Carol had made. They were staring at the hole, just wishing for the dust to clear so that they could once again see Ash alive.

Machamp was in a similar state as Giovanni, lying on the ground, boulders surrounding him. He truthfully had no idea what to think, so he just copied his master's stare.

Daichi was the only one who was not affected by the boulders or the explosion. He knew exactly what created the explosion. He could tell that it was a rock Pokemon, but he knew that it wasn't exactly who he was hoping for. Still, he hoped that he was wrong.

After the dust started to clear, everyone who was interested in the hole gained a bit more interest. Brock and Tyler became more curious, Misty, Carol, and Ash's Pokemon became more anxious, Giovanni began to sneer, realizing that he was about to find the target of his rage, and Machamp just stared, copying Giovanni's sneer.

Finally, a figure began to appear in the hole. Only the outline of the body was evident at the current moment, but Brock, Tyler, Misty, Carol, Ash's Pokemon, and Daichi recognized it immediately. Giovanni, however, still had no clue.

When they recognized it, Misty, Carol, and Ash's Pokemon felt their faces drop greatly, disappointed at who it was. Brock and Tyler's faces didn't drop as much as the girls' and Pokemon's did, but they were still visibly displeased with the figure. Daichi's expression didn't change in the least, and he knew that his previous suspicions were proved true.

The dust finally cleared all of the way, and the figure that created the hole was revealed. He stood at the edge of the hole, smirking and looking down at all of the faces that were looking up at him.

"Well, look's like I've found it," he said.

Unfortunately, nobody in the room but the Pokemon understood him.

The figure was that of none other than Grom. The Tyranitar sat there for a while, observing the room before jumping down. He landed on a rather large boulder and looked up at the group standing on Daichi's head. He noticed that Ash was not among them, and he asked a simple question that had a great impact on the group. Or rather, the Pokemon who understood him. But you know what I meant, I hope that you aren't that stupid.

"Where's Ash?"

Raidon and Lucky started to tear up. Chill, Hana, Kiyoshi, and Shinichi did their best to hold the tears back, while Fright, Flare, and Switch tried to comfort Raidon and Lucky. Leaf got a far off look in his eyes, and he turned away from the group and stared at the room where Ash's body lay.

"He's… not with us anymore," Daichi said.

"Do you mean…?" Grom asked. Daichi nodded, and Grom sadly said, "Oh."

Giovanni was beginning to get really pissed off by now. The Pokemon that had just cost him his gun just jumps in and starts conversing to the other Pokemon like nothing happened! That Tyranitar was going to pay heavily.

"I don't know what the heck's going on here, but I'm getting really tired of it!" Giovanni exclaimed, regaining the attention of everyone. He was standing up, his face flushed red with anger. Grom looked at the man with interest, wondering who the heck he was.

"Who's the really angry guy with the Machamp who mimics everything he does?" Grom asked. True to what Grom said, Machamp was also standing up, the exact same look playing on his face.

"That's the guy who killed Ash," Raidon said, feeling himself fill up with anger just saying it.

"Ah, so this is the jerk," Grom said.

"We don't give a crap if you're angry or not, Giovanni!" Carol yelled, her disappointment turning into rage. "You've got to pay the crimes you've committed through Team Rocket!"

Grom's attention heightened even more. "This guy's with Team Rocket?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's the boss of them," Shinichi told Grom.

Grom's interest turned to anger. "So you're the one who ordered your Grunts to raid my cave and take my mate and kid!" he yelled, suddenly charging forward.

Machamp managed to catch him and hold him back. Grom didn't stop trying to get to Giovanni, and he kept pushing Machamp back. Machamp tried using a Karate Chop to stop Grom, but the hit barely slowed the charging Tyranitar despite the type disadvantage.

Machamp tried a different tactic. He picked up Grom and flung him into the wall. Grom's body left an indent into the wall, making more chunks of concrete fall from the walls and ceiling of the already unstable building.

Grom quickly picked himself up and said, "Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh?" Grom then began to glow faintly and suddenly around two dozen boulders floated into the air. "Try this on for size!" Grom yelled, flinging the boulders at Machamp. Machamp was able to dodge the first few, but was hit by the fifth one. Machamp was sent flying into the wall directly behind him, followed by the rest of the boulders.

Upon impact, more chunks of ceiling fell to the ground, nearly hitting Daichi's body and knocking everyone off of his head. Giovanni was nearly crushed by another boulder.

"Grom! Stop!" Brock desperately cried out. "The building's too weak to take these attacks!"

However, Brock's demand fell on deaf ears. Grom was in a fit of unstoppable rage. Brock remembered something about Tyranitar at that moment. He remembered hearing somewhere that when Tyranitar go on rampages, whole maps have to be redone.

Realizing this, Brock quickly yelled, "Guys, we've got to find a place to take cover! If Grom keeps fighting like this, the whole place could come down!"

By that time, Machamp had gotten up after that Ancient Power and they were locked up in combat. Machamp was struggling to hold the raged Tyranitar back, but quickly failing. Machamp then decided to use Low Kick, knocking Grom to the ground. He then proceeded to pick him up and use Seismic Toss, throwing him right back down to the ground. The impact shook a few more boulders loose from the walls and ceiling, once again nearly crushing everyone else.

Tyler, Carol, Misty, and all of the Pokemon decided to take Brock's advice as another rain of cement chunks fell around them. They quickly climbed off of Daichi, and Brock returned him to his Pokeball. They all searched for anything that looked stable enough to protect them. Carol soon found a place that looked safe.

"There! Maybe that would work!" she shouted, pointing across the room to a place where a set of boulders had fallen, creating a sort of shelter. It looked sturdy enough to take a direct hit from a falling boulder and still stay standing.

"Yes, that's perfect!" shouted Tyler as another loud crash signaled either Grom or Machamp taking a hit and triggering another set of boulders to fall.

However, no boulders fell this time. Instead, the roof began to shake, and the sound of metal scraping against concrete was heard. This ear-splitting noise caused everyone in the room to cover their ears, and Grom and Machamp stopped fighting. The roof began to shake more violently, and dust began to fall from small cracks appearing in the ceiling.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" Brock yelled. "The place is about to come down!"

"Grom! Get over here NOW!" Misty yelled, getting Grom's attention. Machamp was busy watching the cracks in the ceiling progress. Grom took the opening and quickly punched Machamp in the gut, knocking him out.

Grom picked up Machamp and quickly ran towards the group, realizing that the place was about to come down. The group was running towards him, but at a slightly different angle. He looked over in the direction that they were heading and saw the strange shelter. He guessed that they were heading for that, and he changed his direction so that he was running towards it, too.

Finally, chunks of concrete started to fall from the ceiling, and they crashed down in random places. Misty, Brock, and the rest of the group were doing their best to cross the rest of the distance that was between them and the shelter quickly.

Just then, Shinichi saw a boulder falling that was about to hit Carol. He quickly sprung into action, letting loose a powerful Hydro Pump, knocking the boulder away. Carol saw the blast of water, and saw the boulder being pushed in front of her, landing only a few feet away. She moved to the side to avoid it, and turned around to see Shinichi running behind her.

Grom was having just as much trouble. Chunks of rock fell all around him, and he was having trouble running with Machamp slung over his shoulder. He knew that Machamp was slowing him down, but he couldn't leave another Pokemon to perish, not even one that he was battling just seconds ago. Despite this, Grom was able to make it to the makeshift shelter safe.

Soon after Grom made it safely, Misty, Brock, Tyler, Carol, and all of Ash's Pokemon made it to the shelter. There was barely room for everyone, but they were able to squeeze in and get under the roof of the shelter. Carol quickly took the chance to thank Shinichi for saving her since he was sitting on her lap.

"Thanks for the save back there, Shinichi," Carol said.

"Oh, no problem. It was nothing," he said. Of course, all Carol heard was Shinichi saying, "Squirtle, squirt squirt. Squirtle squirt."

Carol smiled and patted Shinichi on the head. Everyone else was huddling towards the center of the shelter, trying to keep away from the edges for fear of being crushed.

During this whole crazy episode, Giovanni was sitting under his tiny shelter that he had quickly found. He was the first to realize that the place was going to come down, so when Machamp and that Tyranitar started to destroy the place, he sneaked off and crawled under a pile of boulders that had a small opening under them. He sat there, fuming about how if his helicopter pilot had gotten here on time, he wouldn't be in this mess.

Unfortunately for him, his shelter wasn't as stable as he had thought. A large boulder had fallen on it and destroyed the little pocket that he was hiding in. The boulder that was directly above him fell down and crushed Giovanni's right leg under its weight. Another boulder fell on his left arm, crushing it. He felt extreme pain, and he shouted in fury and agony at the same time.

The yell was loud enough for everyone in the other makeshift shelter to hear. They all remembered about Giovanni at the same time.

"Oh, no! We forgot about Giovanni!" Tyler said.

"Who cares! If he dies, then I say he deserved it," Carol said, her voice as cold as it was before. "As they say, a life for a life."

Everyone, including the Pokemon (minus Machamp, who was still unconscious), stared at her, startled by the sudden coldness in her personality.

"You can't mean that, right?" Misty genuinely asked, scared at how the girl who was chatting kindly with her not a few hours ago could have that much hatred in her.

Carol just stared at her, no change in the cold face that she had adorned when she spoke. Misty cringed, knowing that she damn well meant it.

"Still, I think that we should go get him," Brock said, recovering from Carol's statement. Everyone else nodded except Carol, for obvious reasons.

But just as Brock was about to get up to go find Giovanni, a huge chunk of rock covered up the exit on that side. Brock jumped slightly, and he fell back onto Misty's lap. He blushed slightly and got up. He tried to shove the block of cement out of the way, but it didn't budge. "Grom, could you give it a try?" he asked.

"Sure, just let me get up," he said, pushing Machamp to the side and standing up. He tried to exit the shelter so that he could turn around, but as he started to exit, he saw another chunk of ceiling falling. He retreated back into the shelter just as the block closed off the other exit. The shelter lost most of its light, and the only light came from a small hole that the second boulder left open.

Grom was so surprised by the falling block that he fell backwards, landing on top of most of the rest of the group, knocking them out. Grom also hit his head on the other boulder, knocking himself out. The only one that wasn't knocked out was Lucky, who was small enough to avoid the falling Tyranitar.

Outside of the small shelter, the rest of the ceiling finally collapsed, and a cascade of rubble crashed down onto the floor. Soon, there was no more ceiling, and what was left of the room was open to the sky. The afternoon sun shone down on the large room, and many people had come out of their homes to examine the area. Many of them pulled out their cell phones and called 911, telling them that a huge hole had just opened up in the ground.

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Tyler's POV:

I started to come to I don't know how long after I was knocked out, but when I opened my eyes, I noticed that the light blinded me. It was so bright that I was forced to look away and close my eyes. It took a few more tries until I could hold open my eyes.

I looked around to see that I was no longer in the small shelter that we were in before. I was in a large white room on a soft bed, instead. Everything around me was white. The walls, the ceiling, the bed sheets, the floor, the door, and even the light from the light fixture on the ceiling were all white. There was a single window in the room, and it let in the only natural light coming from the moon and some of the only color in the room. I looked at the small clock hanging on the wall to see that it was around three. I knew that it was three in the morning from the moon. The only other color in the entire room came from the three beds around me, on which my friends sat, all of them awake and discussing something. They still had their clothes on, and I noticed that so did I.

I groaned and sat up, getting the attention of my friends. They looked both glad that I was awake, and troubled about something else.

"Hey, sleepy head," Brock said. "Good to see you awake."

"Ugh, where am I?" I asked. Just as I asked that, a lady walked into the room, wearing a (Surprise, surprise) white nurse's outfit. From that, I guessed that we were in a hospital of some sort.

"Ah, it's so good to see that you're all awake!" she said. Everyone looked over at her, and everyone but me began asking her thousands of questions.

"Where are our Pokemon?"

"Where's Giovanni?"

"Where's Tyranitar?"

"Where's Ash?" I added when I realized that no one had asked that yet.

The nurse looked overwhelmed. "Whoa, one at a time!" she exclaimed. "First, don't worry about your Pokemon. They're being healed in the Pokemon wing of the building. Second, Giovanni is in another room, being treated for a broken arm and leg. He's in a different room, and as soon as he's ready to leave, he'll be released."

Misty interrupted the nurse at this point. "Wait, why is he going to be released? He's the leader of Team Rocket! He should be going to jail!" she yelled.

"Leader of Team Rocket?" said the nurse, confused. "Giovanni's the Gym Leader in Viridian City."

"That's just a front!" Misty said. "He's the leader of Team Rocket in secret! That warehouse was one of their bases!" I looked at her, slightly scared. Misty can get pretty scary when angered.

"We know that, but that doesn't mean that Giovanni is their leader," the nurse said, keeping her cool, despite Misty screaming her head off at her. I figured that she was either highly trained to stay calm around her patients, or she was just used to it from some sort of problem at home. My guess is a rude husband or really loud kids.

"But, how do-" Misty started, but quickly stopped when Brock tapped her shoulder and said, "Misty, calm down. It's OK."

Misty sighed, calming down. I couldn't help but sigh as well, relieved that she wasn't angry anymore.

The nurse began to answer the next question. "The Tyranitar is with the rest of your Pokemon, being healed. As for this Ash, if you mean the body we found in the vault room, he's in a separate room. He's one strange case. We're lucky that the vault room was the only room not to collapse. His body wasn't disturbed at all despite the cave-in."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"Well, he gives most of the signs of being dead: no pulse, no breathing, and no movement. But the strangest part is that his skin still has color in it, his pupils are still dilating, and there's no wound in him, nor any trace of a wound."

"You mean that there's no bullet hole?" Brock asked.

"Nope, not even any blood anywhere. His body is perfectly healthy, but it's acting like it's dead. It's as if he's between the states of a coma and death. We can't figure anything out!" the nurse said, seeming strangely frustrated. I guessed that Ash, Giovanni, and we were keeping her in perpetual motion.

'Note to self, never _ever_ become a nurse for a living,' I thought.

"What about his backpack?"

"It's lying next to his bed in his room. Some strange feeling told us that we should leave it with him and not open it," the nurse said. I sighed in relief, knowing that no one knew about the three Legendary Birds. I saw similar expressions on my friends' faces.

I sat back, trying to take it all in. Everyone was fine, Giovanni wasn't going to go to jail (which sucks), Ash's body is doing weird things, and Lucky and the rest of them…

"Wait, what about Lucky, and the rest of those six?" I suddenly yelled out. I saw the nurse, who was currently looking at some papers, jump a little bit. Brock, Misty, and Carol looked at each other, remembering about the six oddly colored Pokemon.

"Yeah, where are they?" Brock asked.

"OK, I have no idea who Lucky is, but if by 'the rest of those six' you mean the six escaped experiments, their being held in a heavily guarded room in the Pokemon wing," the nurse answered.

"WHAT?!" Carol shouted, jumping out of her bed. "Why?!"

'Holy crap, she's scarier that Misty!' I thought.

"Because they're dangerous," the nurse answered.

I remained calm (as calm as I can remain after having the crap scared out of me) and asked, "If they are so dangerous, then why didn't they hurt us while we were knocked out?"

"All but the Eevee were knocked out as well. We figured that he knocked all of you out," she said, turning to face me.

"No, the Tyranitar fell back on us when he entered the shelter," I said. "That's what knocked us out. Lucky must have been able to avoid him."

"Lucky?" the nurse said. "You named the Eevee?"

"No, Ash did," Brock answered for me.

"When? Ash was… um… 'dead' when we found you."

"When he caught Lucky before we entered the warehouse," I said.

"What?! That kid caught that dangerous escaped Pokemon?!" the nurse exclaimed.

"Yes, he caught Lucky and the rest of those 'dangerous' Pokemon," Carol said. She had calmed down by now, and was sitting on her bed once more.

The nurse was genuinely surprised. She stared at us like we were speaking nonsense.

"Now, we demand that you let those Pokemon out of that guarded room and let them get healed normally, with the rest of our Pokemon," Brock said.

The nurse shook her head and brought herself back to reality. "I'm sorry, we can't risk those dangerous Pokemon hurting any of the other Pokemon."

"What other Pokemon?" I asked. "The only Pokemon that I'd think that you would have here are ours!"

"We are also caring for the stolen Pokemon that were in the vault," she said.

"All of them?!" Misty asked, taken aback.

"Yes, we had to call in around ten more Nurse Joys!" the nurse said. "That's why we have the dangerous Pokemon in a guarded room."

"They aren't dangerous!" Carol exclaimed. "I was playing with them the night before we went into the warehouse!"

"Well, that Eevee was the only reason we found you," the nurse said. "His mewing was what attracted the survivor search to your little shelter. Still, he could have been mewing just to try and save himself."

"Ugh, come on, guys. This nurse isn't going to do anything, so let's do this ourselves," Carol said, standing up and heading for the door.

"I can't let you go just yet," the nurse said, blocking the door. "There's still some paperwork to-"

The nurse never finished the sentence, as Carol reached her hand around to the back of the nurse's head and delivered a swift chop to it, causing the nurse to collapse.

Brock, Misty, and I sat there, looking at Carol, then at the nurse, who was lying unconscious on the floor. We were stunned.

"What?" Carol asked. "I know a few pressure points that can be used to knock someone out. When you live on the street for a few years, you learn stuff like that for self-defense." She then proceeded to slip on her socks and shoes and walk out the door.

When she realized that we were just sitting on our beds, staring at the nurse, she walked back in and said, "You guys coming or not?"

We slowly stood up, put on our shoes, and walked out the door, making sure not to step on the nurse.

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General POV, Several Hours Earlier:

Delia Ketchum had just finished dinner and was helping her Mr. Mime, Mimey, clean the dishes. She quickly felt a bout of nostalgia wave through her as she remembered the time that Ash had helped them with the dishes. She sure missed him, and she hoped that he was doing OK.

She quickly shook away these thoughts and told herself that Ash was doing fine. She went to pick up the next dish, but then realized that there were no more dishes to wash. She smiled at her own mistake, and turned to face Mimey. He was garbed in his usual green apron, and was looking at her as if asking what she wanted him to do next.

"Well, Mimey, it looks like we're done. It's time to relax for a little while," Delia said, and Mimey nodded, running off somewhere to do whatever it was that he did to relax. Delia turned and walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, where she turned on the TV. It was already on the news channel, and Delia sat down to watch it. She liked to know what was happening in the world each day.

She watched with mild interest until she a picture of a huge hole that had opened up in the middle of Goldenrod City. The headline said "Team Rocket Warehouse Discovered". This interested her for some reason, and she started to pay more attention. The reporter began talking.

"Well, this story is probably the most strange story we've had in a while. The day today started normally in this small Goldenrod neighborhood, that is, until a Tyranitar was spotted running down the street."

A short video began to play. The reported continued, describing what was happening. "The Tyranitar ran down the street, then it suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. He then set loose a Hyper Beam into the ground, creating a huge hole in the ground, after which the Tyranitar jumped into."

The video stopped, and the screen returned to the reporter. "Minutes later, the ground in the area started to shake, and the street collapsed, as well as part of people's yards and houses," the reporter continued. "After the ground had stopped collapsing, locals wandered out to the edge of the resulting hole. What they saw astounded us."

A new picture popped up behind the reporter, showing what looked like a ruined building without a roof. "What was revealed was the only underground warehouse in Goldenrod. Apparently, something made the roof collapse on itself. What's more, there was an insignia on some of the walls that remained intact. It was that of Team Rocket. It is believed that they were using the long ago abandoned warehouse as some sort of base."

The camera shifted angles, and the reporter turned to match it. "Minutes after the warehouse was uncovered, police and rescue crews had assembled around the edge of the hole. As the rescue crew went in to search for survivors, they uncovered a strange variety of people and Pokemon. Among the few people left was Giovanni, Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym. It is unknown as to why he was there."

Then a new picture flashed up on the screen. Delia dropped the remote upon seeing it. It was a picture of five kids and assorted Pokemon. "Others found among the wreckage were these five people, as well as their Pokemon, the Tyranitar from earlier, a Machamp that is believed to be Giovanni's, and strangely the six escaped Pokemon!" the reporter announced. Delia recognized the Pokemon that the reporter was talking about, but that wasn't why she was surprised. She was surprised because she recognized three of the kids as Brock, Misty, and her Ash.

"We have confirmation that the girl with red hair is Misty from the Cerulean City Gym, and the tall tan one is Brock from the Pewter City Gym. The trainer's license of the tall tan man on the far right shows him to be Tyler Hito. The other girl doesn't have any identification, and the kid with the black, spiky hair and the Official Pokemon League hat is identified as Ash Ketchum on his trainer's license."

"All of these survivors are being held in the Goldenrod Hospital. Ash Ketchum is in the ER for some pretty strange things. All we know is that he is in some sort of state between coma and death. The hospital doctors are saying that he isn't breathing and has no pulse, yet his skin still has color, and his pupils are still dilating. There also seems to be no wound or trace of poison in his body."

By this time, Delia had stood up and was on the phone. "Professor Oak, did you see the news?" she said.

On the other end of the line, Professor Oak said, "Yes, I did. It's rather disturbing, Ash's state."

'That stupid scientist,' Delia thought. 'All he can think about is all of that medical mumbo-jumbo.'

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I need to borrow one of the flying Pokemon on the ranch," Delia said, obviously in a hurry.

"Why?" Oak asked her, completely oblivious to the obvious.

"I need to go to Goldenrod," Delia said. "I have to see Ash!"

"Alright, just come over to the lab when you're ready to go."

"Thank you Professor Oak!" she said, hanging up the phone.

Delia quickly threw on her shoes and grabbed her purse. "Mimey!" she called out. The Mr. Mime appeared quickly from the stairs.

"I need you to be good while I'm gone, and take care of the house!" Delia said, rushing out of the door. "Bye!" she said, leaving a very confused Mr. Mime all alone in the house, with the TV still on.

End of Part Fourteen

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And now, Ash's mom comes into the picture, and Ash is still dead. This is getting good. Another good two or three chapters will sum this 'book' up. After which, I may take a break from it and write a different story for a while. But I will continue this story afterwards. Of course, I still have yet to finish this 'book'.

Also, updates may come a little slower now thanks to school restarting and since I have Robotics, which takes up three hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, updates could slow to one every week. Please bear with me.

Wingman11, Keeper of Fates, Overlord of Shiny Objects, Master of the Plot Twist


	15. How What Now?

A/N: Here's the next chapter of my story. Sorry for taking so long, between Robotics and school, there has been little free time. Most of the free time that I did have was spent reading another story. It's really good, it's called Tales of Flame by Buwaro. I reccomend that you check it out, its a great story. Just make sure that you have a lot of time set aside to read it, since it is 280 chapters in it. It's not that bad, though, I could fit about two or three of his chapters into one of mine. Anyways, go check it out. It's well worth the time it takes to read.

Anyways, I hope to have the next chapter be the last one in this 'book'. That is, if the evil plot bunnies don't make it through my army of shiny objects. Also, I decided to stop the quotes thing altogether. It's too hard to find appropriate quotes. Anyways, enjoy and review.

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Part Fifteen – How What Now?

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General POV:

If one were to look into the various halls and rooms of the Goldenrod Hospital, they might see doctors and nurses who look just about ready to drop dead rushing around in the white hallways of the Emergency Room.

One might see a large room, equally as white as the halls, that had various machinery neatly arranged around a large white (duh) bed, processing various information. On that bed, one would see the body of an eleven-year-old lying on it, completely unmoving, yet perfectly healthy looking.

Looking into the underdeveloped Pokemon Treatment Wing of the hospital, you might see ultimate chaos as multiple nurses and Nurse Joys rushed around, doing their best not to collide with each other, carrying paperwork and other various objects.

In the rooms of said wing, one would see dozen upon dozen of Pokemon, each looking slightly relieved, yet somewhat scared. In one room, one might see a large Tyranitar with several minor injuries. In another, there was a large group of Pokemon that were talking as if they knew each other very well, which is exactly the case.

But the thing that one would find most surprising is that right on the edge of the Pokemon Treatment Wing, at the end of a hall, there was a heavily guarded and padlocked room, containing six small Pokemon, each having different coloration from their natural colors.

This room was the destination of a group of four people, none of whom were doctors or nurses. They were patients. And if one listened closely enough, one could hear a conversation being had among the four of them.

"I told you that it wasn't that way!"

"SHUT IT! How was I supposed to know that?"

"The map."

OK, so you don't have to listen closely, and they were having an argument. Does it matter? They are still talking to each other. Well, more like shouting, but that's not the point! Anyway, back to our little group of friends.

"Which map? I didn't see any map!" shouted Misty, sounding really peeved at the current moment. But then again, when isn't she?

"That one," Tyler commented, pointing at the large map of the hospital that was hung up on the wall.

"Oh," Misty said, turning a shade of red that clearly marked her as embarrassed. "Didn't see that."

"Obviously," Brock cut in, tired of the bickering. He had to put up with it almost every day, which made him wonder why he wasn't used to it yet. "Back to the point at hand, the map says that the Pokemon Treatment Wing is down this hall, through the main lobby, and on the opposite side of the lobby."

"Told you."

"Shut up."

They took off down the hall, not running, yet hurrying. They wanted to get all the way to the right place, but they didn't want to attract too much attention. Too much attention would get them right back in that hospital room, right back where they started.

They looked into the other rooms that they passed, and many of them were occupied, but most occupants were fast asleep, seeing as it was still about three in the morning. That was another reason why the group was not running at full speed. The added noise running created might wake up the other patients.

Now, whether they did so was out of respect for those sleeping or just to keep anyone from reporting where they were, who knows? Oh, right, me. Hehe.

Anyway, by now, they had made it to the main lobby. Now it was a simple matter of getting across it and finding the right room. However, that might be complicated, seeing as the front desk attendant would easily see them and catch them.

Luckily, their problems seemed to be solved when a middle-aged woman with brown hair came running through the door, looking particularly flustered. She ran up to the front desk and took the attention of the girl behind the desk. Or so it seemed.

Brock and Misty quickly recognized the lady as soon as she ran in the door. I mean, they only just saw her at the party that their parents threw them only a few days ago.

They walked out into the open, Tyler and Carol both looking quite confused, and straight up to the person, who was now yelling at the lady at the desk. Who was blatantly ignoring her while reading a book.

"You've gotta let me into see Ash!" screamed the brown-haired woman.

"Sorry, no one is allowed to see him," the other lady, who looked to be a young looking teenager with blonde hair, said, flipping another page in her book. It was now that Misty chose to speak up.

"Mrs. Ketchum?" Misty said, still confused at seeing Ash's mother in Goldenrod.

"Huh?" Delia said, turning suddenly to see Misty, Brock, and the other two that were on the news report. She remembered that the male was called Tyler, but the girl's name was left out, seeing as no one knew it. "Oh, you guys are safe!" she suddenly exclaimed, hugging Brock and Misty tightly.

Misty and Brock were starting to turn blue, and they struggled to escape Delia's killer hug. "Can't… Breathe… Need… Oxygen," Brock managed to struggle out.

"Oh! Sorry," Delia said, releasing them as they took huge breaths to refill their squeezed empty lungs.

"I'd normally say 'Where's my hug?' right now, but seeing what you did to Brock and Misty there," Tyler said, "I think that I'll pass."

"You must be Tyler," Delia said. "They said so on the news report."

"That's right."

"Unfortunately, I didn't get your name," Delia commented, turning to Carol. "The news couldn't figure it out, since you don't nave any ID."

"I'm Carol," she said. "Nice to meet you, Mrs., um…"

"Ketchum," Delia finished for Carol. "I'm Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother. But please, just call me Delia."

"Thanks, calling you Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother would get annoying after a while," Tyler said, chuckling slightly.

Delia had a good laugh at this; he reminded her of a certain someone that she used to know when he was Tyler's age. (I'll leave you to guess who.)

Brock and Misty had now just finally recovered from the massive hug that Delia had just given them. Misty spoke first, saying, "Mrs. Ketchum, what are you doing here?"

"First off, please, call me Delia," she said, "and secondly, I was here to see Ash until- "

The lazy blonde attendant cut her off by saying, "If you're going to have a conversation, could you please have it elsewhere? You're distracting me from my book."

"Until this jerk decided that the fact that I'm his mother means nothing and that I can't see him," Delia finished.

"Gee, I hate to stop such wonderful praise being given to me," the blonde said, sarcasm written all over her face as she finally looked up from her book, "but if you're not here to do anything but talk, I'll have to ask you to leave."

Misty was looking to be about ready to knock this girl's head off of her shoulders when Tyler decided to intervene. And by intervene, I mean punch the blonde square in the nose.

She fell to the floor instantly, gripping her, now blood covered, nose and shouting obscenities that could make anyone over the age of 65 faint from the sheer multitude of curses. Tyler took this moment to say something fairly insulting.

"Let's see you read that book with a huge swollen nose blocking your view of the pages!"

"Hey, I was going to do that!" Misty whined.

"Too bad."

"Stop arguing you two, or I'll make you!" Delia said in her well-known scolding voice.

Yes ma'am," they both said in unison. Carol was fighting back giggles.

The blonde quieted down, ending her stream of colorful language to stare up at Tyler with hatred. She started to get up, mumbling something about killing that… um, "female dog", for punching her. However, she never got the chance, as Carol pulled the same trick that she pulled on the nurse.

The blonde fell to the ground, flat on her back, out cold.

Delia was astounded. She tried to ask something intelligent, but all that came out was, "How what now?"

"I used to live on the streets. When you live alone, you learn these things," Carol explained.

Carol leaned over and rolled her over onto her side. "If she lies on her back, the blood from the nosebleed could choke her," Carol explained. "And while she deserves being punched, she doesn't deserve death. However…"

Carol picked up the blonde's book and placed it right underneath the teen's nose, the blood dripping down onto the pages, staining them a bright shade of crimson.

"Let's see her read her book with a swollen nose and blood-stained pages!" Carol said, standing up.

"We should probably get moving," Brock pointed out.

As Brock, Misty, Tyler, and Carol started to walk to the other side of the room, Delia decided to speak up.

"Wait, where's Ash?"

"He's somewhere in the ER," Carol said. "You should come with us, we're going to go find him."

"After we handle a little something else," Brock muttered.

Unfortunately, Delia is a mom, and moms have super sensitive hearing. (I know from personal experience.) She heard what Brock said, and in true mom fashion, said, "What did you say?"

"Um, I just said that we have something to do before we go find Ash," Brock said, revealing everything, and at the same time, nothing. As guessed, knowing nothing displeases a mom.

"What are you going to do?"

"Um, get our Pokemon?" Misty said.

"Then why are you whispering it?" Delia asked. "What's so secret about your Pokemon? I know that you have Pokemon, so shy are you trying to hide it?"

Brock sighed. "Fine, we'll tell you, seeing as it involves Ash. But it's better that we tell you once we have proof."

"Proof?" Delia asked. "Proof of what?"

But before she got her answer, Tyler grabbed her wrist and pulled her after the rest of the group. They raced down the halls, Delia struggling to keep up, towards the end of the hall, where another map was placed.

"What looks like the best room?" Misty asked.

"Um… that one!" Brock said after studying the map. "It's farthest away from the rest of the hospital and on the edge of the Pokemon Treatment Wing."

"What? Best room for what?" Delia desperately asked.

"You'll see."

"I'll see what? You had better tell me!"

"Can't, we might get caught," Carol said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, technically, we're still supposed to be in our hospital room, but we needed to get our Pokemon first," Tyler explained.

"Why is-" Delia began to question, but was cut off as Tyler grabbed her wrist again and started running down the halls again. They took a few more turns until they came upon a hallway that had a dead end, minus the emergency exit. At the end of the hall, there was a pair of security guards standing in front of the emergency exit and another pair in front of a door that led to another room.

"There!" Misty said, pointing straight at the guarded door. "They must be in there!"

"What is in there?" Delia asked, confused as ever.

"I told you, you'll see," Tyler repeated.

They rushed down to the end of the hall, just to be stopped by the security guards. "Whoa, there! What's the rush?" one questioned.

"We need to get into that room!" Brock panted, tired after his long run.

"Sorry, we were told to keep all visitors out of this room," one of the guards standing next to the door to the room replied.

"Yeah, but we're not visitors," Carol said, slyly smiling.

"Wha-" was all the guard managed to say before Carol pulled the same trick that she pulled on the nurse and the blonde on him. While the other guards were stunned, Brock, Misty, and Tyler repeated the action on the remaining three guards, knocking them all into dreamland. Brock leaned over one of the guards and picked up the key ring that was around his belt.

He flipped through the keys and found the right one, which wasn't hard, seeing as the right one had a piece of string around it attached to a slip of paper that said, "Use to open door if anything strange happens in the room".

Brock slipped the key into the door and started to turn it. Delia chose this moment to snap out of her shock at the four and said, "Guys, if this room was guarded, then whatever is in this room probably is dangerous."

"Actually, these Pokemon aren't dangerous, they're just different and misunderstood," Tyler hinted as Brock finished opening the door.

A second passed after the door opened, and then a black blur zoomed straight at Carol, leaping into her arms. The speed at which it was running caused Carol to fall back on the ground, and the black blur stopped, revealing a black little Eevee, with emerald green eyes. 'One of the escaped Pokemon!' Delia thought as she rushed over to Carol to get her away from the attacker. Until she realized that the Eevee wasn't attacking; rather, it was licking Carol all over her face.

"How what now?" Delia asked, more confused than a Spinda after a tornado.

"Is that your favorite phrase or something?" Tyler asked, who received a very harsh glare from Delia.

"No, I'm just really confused," Delia said, keeping her cool.

"Yeah, it turns out that the escaped Pokemon weren't dangerous, just distrusting of humans," Brock explained, as Carol struggled to remove the happy mass from her chest. "All it took was Ash to catch them and befriend them, and now they're just like normal Pokemon. Well, except the fact that they're colored weird, and they battle with different attacks."

Behind her, Delia heard a small bark as five more Pokemon ran out to join in thanking Carol. Who was still trying to get the Eevee off of her.

"Guys, guys, calm down! I missed you too!" Carol shouted over the exited noises that the Pokemon were making. Then she squeaked, turning to the Oddish at her side. "Hey, that tickles!"

Then Delia saw something that startled her even further. The six Pokemon looked at the spot that Oddish had accidentally tickled, then at each other, before jumping on Carol and using their arms/ noses/ vines/ tails to tickle Carol.

Carol squeaked again, then started laughing. She desperately tried to shout, "Guys, stop it!" between laughs, but the Pokemon ignored her.

Delia couldn't believe it. Here she was, looking at six Pokemon that, just moments ago, she had thought were dangerous, watching them tickle a girl that she had just met. To top it off, it was somewhere near three in the morning. What a day, and the real day hadn't even begun yet!

The Pokemon finally got off of Carol, who wiped her face clean and stood up. Misty and Tyler were fighting back laughs, and Brock was looking quite amused.

Tyler finally got the laughter out of his system, and said, "Well, it's good to see that you guys are fine."

The Pokemon turned to him, and then looked at each other, much like they did before tickling Carol to death. The Clefairy said something to the rest of them, and the Sandshrew answered. Delia didn't know what they had said, but she knew pretty well what they were thinking from the look that they gave Tyler. And from the looks of it, so had everyone else. Including Tyler, who was backing up and saying, "Whoa, there, guys, let's think this through," as the Pokemon inched closer. Tyler eventually took off, Pokemon close behind.

Misty and Brock couldn't hold back laughter this time, and neither could Carol. As they burst out laughing, Delia found herself doing the same. It was so funny that she forgot what she was laughing about.

Brock eventually made himself stop laughing and made the Pokemon stop by saying, "Alright, guys, that's enough. We need to find the rest of our Pokemon."

The Pokemon settled down and looked around, finally noticing Delia. She suddenly felt very nervous at having the six of them staring at her. Misty finally realized what they were wondering, and did the introductions.

"Oh, right! Guys, this is Delia Ketchum, Ash's mom. Delia, this is Lucky, Flare, Chill, Fright, Leaf, and Switch." Misty pointed to each of the Pokemon in turn, first at the Eevee, then the Oddish, Growlithe, Clefairy, Sandshrew, and Dratini.

"Hi," Delia managed to make herself say. Lucky walked over to her, sniffed her legs, studied her, and finally walked back to the rest of the Pokemon. Then, rather suddenly, he whirled around and jumped up at Delia. If she wasn't so alert, she might have dropped Lucky, but since Delia was on edge, she caught the little Eevee, who looked up at her with what Delia guessed to be happiness in his eyes.

The rest of the Pokemon took this time to gather around Delia, who was still in shock. She turned to Misty, who said, "Go ahead, they won't hurt you."

Delia kneeled down and got nearly level with the rest of the Pokemon, patting them on the head and getting to better know them. In that short period of time where she interacted with the six, she found out that Chill had a spot behind his ear that he loved to have scratched, Fright was actually quite playful and mischievous, and that Leaf seemed rather distant.

A few moments passed, and Delia got to know the Pokemon quite well. She actually wished that she could have a little bit more time with them, but a guard began to get up. Carol quickly noticed and sent him back into unconsciousness. "We should probably get moving," she said, "these guards will be awake soon."

Delia remembered something that Flare could do. "Flare, think you could give tying them up a shot?"

Flare nodded as best as he could (which was kind of funny to watch), and he sent out a few vines and practically Grumpig-tied the guards. He then detached the vines from his body, and the ends of them just fell to the ground, limp.

"Well, that's interesting," Tyler said. "Never seen an Oddish do that before."

"Odd oddish!" Flare said.

"Good job, Flare," Brock said, kneeling down and ruffling Flare's head leaves. "Now let's get moving."

Brock stood back up and the eleven people and Pokemon took off down the hallway.

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As the group rushed down the hallways, they tried to figure out where the nearest map was. They passed countless rooms, each one holding a different scene. There was a room with a Raichu and a Jolteon chasing each other, a room with a Ryhorn and a Graveler talking, and a room with multiple water types swimming around in a large pool. None of the rooms had what they were looking for, though.

"Where the heck are they?" Carol shouted, getting frustrated.

"I don't know!" Tyler said. "Just keep looking!"

"Our Pokemon have to be somewhere! Which room is it?" Carol yelled, not looking in front of her, instead looking at Tyler. And, of course, life decided to take advantage of that lack of focus by throwing a screwball at her life. And by that, I mean that a Nurse Joy stepped into the hallway, right in front of Carol. Who collided with her. Hard.

"Ouch…" Carol said, sitting up after the collision. Nurse Joy was in a similar state.

"I'm so sorry, miss," Nurse Joy apologized.

"No, no, it's fine," Carol said, "it was my fault."

"Yeah, this knucklehead should have been paying more attention to where she was going," Tyler butted in. Apparently, Fright decided that since no one was helping Carol that she would. Fright walked up to Carol and said, "Fairy?"

"Yeah, Fright, I'm fine," Carol nodded, standing up. "Thanks for caring. Unlike _some _people," she added, looking at everyone else.

However, some unintelligible stammering turned everyone's attention back to Nurse Joy. She was scooting back with a horrified look on her face. Chill stepped forward, trying to get close enough to the scared nurse in order to help her up. Of course, that only scared her more.

She finally regained her ability to form words and said, "St-stay back!" Chill tilted his head, a confused look spreading across his face. Nurse Joy stood up and backed up even further, right into the wall. "Don't hurt me!" she said.

"They aren't going to hurt you," Delia said.

"Yes they are!" the scared nurse said. "That's why they were in that guarded room! I told them that they needed more guards!"

Tyler sighed. "Alright, lady, just ignore them for now and tell us where our Pokemon are. We're the four that were found in the warehouse with the Tyranitar," he demanded, stepping up to be in front of the nurse, blocking her view of the Pokemon.

"They're down that hall," she said, pointing down the hall that she came from. "Twelfth room on the right."

"And the Tyranitar?"

"The room right across from it," Joy said, starting to calm down.

"Thank you for cooperating," Tyler said, starting down the hallway. But before he could get too far, Carol said, "Hey, wait a second!"

Tyler stopped and turned around. Carol turned to the nurse again and asked, "Are there any more Tyranitar, Larvitar, or Pupitar here?"

"Yeah, there is one Tyranitar and one Larvitar here, and from the looks of it, they are mother and son," Nurse Joy answered. "Why?"

"Just go get them and bring them to the room that Ash's body is in. Please do it, it's very important," Carol said, turning and running off. The rest of the group followed, leaving a confused Nurse Joy behind. She looked at them, and then decided that she had better do what the girl had asked. She did say that it was important.

As Delia caught up with Carol, she asked, "What was that about?"

"The Tyranitar had his family taken by Team Rocket," Carol answered. "That's how we met it, and we promised to get his family back."

"So that's why you were in the base in the first place!" Delia said.

"Um, yeah, it is," Carol said. Well, it wasn't a total lie, it was one of the reasons they were in the base.

"So why take them to Ash's room?"

"After we get our Pokemon, we're going to bring him with us to see Ash," Carol said.

"How what now?" Delia asked, confused at the plan.

"I told you that it was your favorite phrase!" Tyler said, receiving an angry look from both Delia and Carol. "What?"

"Ignore that idiot," Carol said, getting a "Hey!" from Tyler. "The Tyranitar formed a close, uh, bond with Ash," Carol explained. "Ash was the one who made the promise in the first place."

"Oh, I see."

"There it is! Twelfth on the right!" Brock said. While Carol and Delia were talking, Brock had been counting the rooms, trying to find the right room. He had, and it was just a few feet ahead.

"Finally! I hope Megumi is fine!" Misty yelled.

"Megumi?" Delia asked. "Who is that?"

But before she got her answer, they got to the room and Delia was yanked inside by a very impatient group of trainers.

End of Part Fifteen

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So, what did you think? Remember to review and tell me! I hope to have the next chapter out next Sunday, that is, if I decide to get off of my lazy arse to write it. Writing reviews might help me get it done faster, though... (for those of you stupid enough to not realize what I'm hinting at, I'm telling you to review and it may make me post it up sooner than Sunday) Until then,

Wingman11, Keeper of Fates, Overlord of Shiny Objects, Master of the Plot Twist


	16. The Diagnosis

A/N: Horray! I've finally gotten it done! Sorry for the long wait, but Robotics and procrastination got the best of me and I haven't had much time to write lately. Which is why this is going to be the last chapter of this story that I write ofr a while.

That's right, I'm taking a break from writing. At least until the Robotics build season is over. After that, I plan on trying my hand at another story that I came up with on my own.

Also, this is the last chapter in Book One of what I'm going to call the Chronicles of Fate. The next book will be written as a different story in FanFiction. Expect the first chapter in a months time or so. But don't get your hopes up; I'm still prone to procrastination. Anyways, on to the story! And don't forget to review!

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Part Sixteen – The Diagnosis

_Sometimes, when one really needs it, when someone out there wishes for something to happen hard enough, things happen. Wishes get granted, dreams come true, and things that would be naturally impossible happen. However, those wishes may be granted in ways that the wisher didn't expect…_

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General POV:

The room was absolutely huge. I mean _huge._ It dwarfed any room that the five had seen before. It was bigger than Professor Oak's lab, bigger than Brock or Misty's Gym battle fields, and definitely bigger than a high school gymnasium. That's how big it was.

And to add to the wonder of the room, almost each square inch of the room had something in it. It even had different fake environments for all different types. It was arranged into three sections running the length of the room. There was a mountainous area with peaks covered in fake snow and fake caves dotting the sides on the left side, a grassy wooded area with trees and other vegetation that, upon inspection, proved to be real in the middle, and a desert-like area with real sand and the occasional tumbleweed and cactus on the right. The ceiling was extremely high and painted to simulate a clear sunny sky.

The five of them stood there in the entrance and gawked. This stuff was definitely not toy sized. The mountains actually reached up to the ceiling, and the forest was fairly large. The desert seemed never-ending and it even shimmered with heat, just like a real desert.

"Holy crap this place is big!" Carol said.

"Congratulations, you win a prize for 'Most Obvious Observation'!" Tyler joked, acting like a TV game show host. Carol glared at him, but Tyler just ignored it.

"Not to mention 'World's Biggest Understatement'," Brock added. Carol's glare broke away from Tyler and resettled on Brock, who also ignored it, too busy looking at the room.

"How the heck are we supposed to find our Pokemon now?" Misty whined. "They could be anywhere!"

"Well, my guess is that they'll be staying close to each other, but trying to keep close to their favorite areas, and it seems that all of the areas meet at a lake on the other side of this room," Delia stated.

"How do you know that?" Misty asked.

"This map," Delia said, pointing at the small picture of the room on the wall. "It also says that there should be a trail leading from here to the lake going through the woods."

"Yeah, I see it," Brock said, "it's right there." Brock pointed to a spot a few feet to the left and ahead of him. Sure enough, there was a little dirt path jutting out from the woods.

Delia studied the map a little more. "Hmm, that's strange," she said.

"What's strange?" Carol asked, walking over to Delia and the map.

"Well, it almost looks as if there's an entrance over by the lake, in the mountains, and in the desert," Delia said, pointing to each door in turn.

"If there is, then it just means that we won't have to come back here to exit, and we can just leave by the lake area," Tyler said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Misty said, taking off down the trail.

"Misty, wait up!" Brock yelled, hurrying after her. Tyler, Carol, and Delia quickly followed.

The run through the forest was fairly uneventful. There were various vines and tree branches above the path, and a few lower ones that had to be pushed aside. Many different kinds of bushes ran along the pathway, helping to define the trail. A few fallen logs were noticeable just a small distance away from the trail, and many of them were hollowed out. It took only a minute or so to reach the other side of the forest and find the lake. And boy was it a big lake.

It had two parts to it, one that backed right up to the desert area creating a beach, and one that bordered the mountains and forest, creating a valley lake. In-between the two sides, there was a thin river that was straddled by a bridge that reached over to the other side of the water and led straight to a door.

Of course, that wasn't all that was there. All of the Pokemon were here and accounted for. Lanturn and Espeon were playing on the lakeshore with Raidon, Mika, and Megumi. Shinichi, Hoshi, and Youko were in the water, swimming along, playing what looked to be a game of underwater tag. Tsubame sat near Raidon with his continuous stupor ever present as always. Kane, Mitsuko, Hana, and Kiyoshi were chasing each other through the woods in their own game of tag. Razor was sitting on one of the lower peaks of the mountain, jumping and running across the mountains, seemingly training himself to be faster. Shou and Yasuo were flying around in the sky, and Daichi and Katashi were relaxing in one of the lower caves.

Before the group had a chance to take any of the scene in, Kane accidentally ran right into Carol's leg while he was chasing Mitsuko and was knocked down. He looked up to see what he ran into and saw Carol, who was looking down on him.

He barked happily and quickly stood up. Carol kneeled down and scooped him up. He proceeded to lick her face continuously. If her face wasn't clean before, it sure was now.

Kane's bark got the attention of the rest of the Pokemon. They looked up from their various activities and noticed the group of five standing at the end of the trail. Recognizing their trainers, each Pokemon quickly ran/flew/swam to them. Misty rushed over to Megumi and picked her up, cradling her in her arms. Hoshi and Youko hurried over, and Tsubame basically just sat there and did nothing, just like always. Carol stayed where she was, holding Kane in the air as Mika teleported next to her, and Razor appeared seconds later. Carol embraced all of them in a hug. Brock quickly ran towards Mitsuko and crouched down next to her. He stroked her head while Daichi and Katashi ran over. Well, Daichi slithered and Katashi kind of hovered, but you get the idea. Shou flew down and hovered next to Brock. Tyler ran over to the lake where Lanturn and Espeon were sitting and was promptly tackled by both of them. Yasuo did what he does best and glided down until he was circling insanely fast over Tyler's head.

The only Pokemon that seemed to stay fairly stationary were Raidon, Shinichi, Hana, and Kiyoshi. They all gathered in a spot fairly far away from everyone else and seemed to look at them with sadness. Delia was the only one to spot them, as everyone else was preoccupied with either being liked to death or embracing their Pokemon. The six oddly colored Pokemon noticed as well and followed her.

They didn't notice as she walked over and crouched down next to them. She spoke, saying, "Hey, guys, how are you doing?"

The Pokemon jumped and whirled around to see what had snuck up on them. When they saw that it was just Ash's mother, they relaxed. Then they saw the six oddly colored Pokemon and quickly greeted them.

"So, I guess that we're all in the same boat here," Delia said. "We've all lost Ash."

The Pokemon looked down with various hints of sadness in their eyes. Raidon seemed to be taking it the worst, seeing as he'd been with Ash for the longest. Delia noticed this and patted him on the head.

"Don't cry Pikachu, Ash wouldn't have wanted that," Delia consoled the saddened electric mouse. He looked up at her for a second and nodded, wiping a tear away from his eye.

"If all else fails, remember this, you've got your friends and me," Delia said. "I've always got room in my house for all of you."

The Pokemon nodded thankfully, and they suddenly looked less gloomy. They began to converse among themselves, and Delia stood up, pleased that she was able to pull that off. It had always worked on Ash, but she had never tried it on Pokemon.

She walked across the bridge and studied the area near the door. It was mostly bare, painted to match the theme of the room. The only thing that did stand out was the large blue square hanging from the wall next to the door. She walked closer, and as she did, she began to make out more details. It was a navy blue color, and it appeared to be made of some type of fabric. There were numerous pouches in them, some occupied, some empty. She quickly realized that the items in the pouches were Pokeballs, and she put the pieces together. It was a Pokeball storage hanger.

"Hey, guys, I think that I found everyone's Pokeballs!" Delia called out across the river.

Everyone's attention went straight to her as they located her. They all got up and ran over the bridge (minus the water Pokemon, who swam under it and got to the closest point that they could. The only one who remained where he sat was Tsubame, who was still doing absolutely nothing what so ever.

Everyone quickly located their Pokeballs, and Delia noticed that there were still nine left. She figured that four belonged to Ash's original Pokemon, while the remaining five belonged to all but one of the six oddly colored Pokemon. Delia grabbed them and held them in her hands.

Just then, the moment was disturbed as the door quickly opened and a male nurse stepped in. "Hey everyone, time for another checkup!" he said, sounding awfully cheery for a nurse working so late at night. Then she saw the large coffee cup in his hand.

Unfortunately, so did Yasuo. And he knew exactly what was in it. He swooped down and snatched the cup and glided down a few feet from the group.

"Yasuo, don't drink-" Tyler started, but before he could finish, Yasuo tipped the cup up and chugged the entire cup down. He sat there for a second or two, a blank look on his face. Then, a huge smile spread across his face and his eyes grew huge.

"Crap," Tyler muttered. "Everyone duck and cover!" he shouted, jumping to the ground and covering his head with his arms. With the look on Yasuo's face, everyone predicted what was about to happen and hit the deck as well.

Yasuo then shot up into the air like a bullet, at speeds that would put said bullet to shame, and he rocketed around the room at top speed, screeching at the top of his lungs. He zipped around in the air, pulling off so many aerial acrobatic stunts that no fighter pilot in his right mind would even think about attempting.

When he gained enough height that nobody below was in any direct danger of being hit, everyone stood up. Tyler watched Yasuo with amazement.

"Wow, he's never been that fast when he drank coffee before," Tyler remarked. "What was in that?"

"Expresso," said the nurse plainly.

Tyler nodded, and everyone stood there watching Yasuo for a minute or so. Then Delia remembered the reaction that the previous nurse had when she saw the six oddly colored Pokemon. Delia quickly grabbed the Pokeballs and figured out which ones belonged to which Pokemon. It was easier since Ash had a habit of carving the initials of each Pokemon's species on the bottom of the ball. It seemed that Lucky was the only one that didn't have his own Pokeball.

She quickly withdrew them and stashed the balls in her purse. Then Delia forced Lucky into her purse as well. He protested, but gave in shortly when Delia motioned to the nurse. She looked back up at the nurse, who was still watching Yasuo. She snapped his attention back to reality by saying, "So, why are you here?"

"Oh, I was here to do a little checkup on the Pokemon here, but now that you are here, I suppose that I should get the forms that would allow you to withdraw them from the hospital's care," he explained. "You are the trainers of these Pokemon, right?"

"Yeah, we are, but this here is the mother of the trainer of some of the Pokemon here," Misty explained, motioning at Delia.

"Well, that's fine," the nurse said, "any blood relative of the trainer can withdraw his or her Pokemon."

"What about Pokemon that don't belong to anyone?" Brock asked, obviously thinking about Grom.

"The people who brought it in can take it out at any moment after it has been fully treated."

"OK, then we'd like to withdraw the Tyranitar that was brought in with us," Brock said.

"Alright, then, let me just get the paperwork out and you guys can fill it out," the nurse said, flipping through papers on his clipboard. "Aha!" he said, pulling out a few sheets of paper. "Here you go."

He handed one sheet of paper to each of them, and two to Brock, one for his Pokemon, and the other one for Grom. Then the nurse took out a few pencils from one of his pockets and handed one to each of them as well.

The paperwork was surprisingly easy to fill out, and it only took a minute or so for everyone to finish. They handed the paperwork to the nurse, and he put it back on his clipboard, and he took back the pencils and returned them to his pocket.

He thanked them and turned to leave when Carol spoke up. "Wait, sir!" she said, causing the nurse to stop.

"Yes?" he said, turning around.

"Can you tell us the fastest way to get to the ER? Our friend and her son is in there, and we need to find him," Carol asked.

"Well, if you go down the trail in the forest, a little ways in, there is a trail on the right that leads into the mountain area. Follow it and it will take you to a door. That door leads straight into the ER hallway," the nurse explained.

"Thank you," Carol said as the nurse turned and left. She looked away from the door and looked at the rest of the group. She thought that it seemed a little bit smaller for some reason, but she couldn't place it. Brock, however, could.

"Hey, where are Lucky, Chill, Flare, Fright, Leaf, and Switch?" he asked.

"Oh, I put them in their Pokeballs when the nurse came in," Delia stated. "I didn't want him to freak out like everyone else."

"Nice thinking," Tyler commented. Then, out of nowhere, Yasuo flew straight into the ground in the center of the group. The impact kicked up quite a bit of dust, and when it cleared, everyone could see a small impact crater that the Gligar had made upon landing. In the center of it lay a very unconscious Yasuo.

Tyler sighed. "This is why I never give him any sugar or caffeine, ever," he said, recalling Yasuo. "He goes insane with energy, and then he crashes in the end."

Ignoring the pun, whether it was intended or not, everyone recalled the rest of their Pokemon, leaving only Raidon, Megumi, and Razor for some reason. Raidon took a spot on Delia's shoulder, just like he always rode on Ash, Megumi was in Misty's arms, and Razor was just standing next to Carol.

"Why aren't you returning him?" Tyler asked.

"I kind of want to get to know him, seeing as I only met him just a few hours ago," Carol answered. Tyler nodded, and off they went.

They hustled down the path and headed straight towards the door that they came in. Arriving there, they ran right through the open doorway and straight across the hallway, into Grom's room.

Inside was the same type of room that the four had been in when they woke up. White walls, white floor, and white bed. The only color was the green of the single Pokemon that was lying on the bed.

"Grom!" Carol shouted, running over to the bed. He was looking well, with only a few bandages on his arm and body. Other than that, he looked perfect.

"Grom?" Delia asked.

"Um…" Carol said, looking at Brock, Misty, and Tyler for support. They just shrugged. "About that, when we met Grom, we called him Tyranitar because we didn't know his name. He finally got tired of it and wrote Grom into the dirt on the ground. We guessed that it was his name."

"Oh, I see," Delia said, buying the lie.

Tyler leaned over and whispered, "Nice save."

"Thanks."

By now, Grom had stood up and was looking down at Delia.

"Oh, hi there," Delia said, looking up at the six foot tall Pokemon. She suddenly felt extremely scared for her life. "I'm Delia Ketchum, Ash's mom."

Grom nodded, and then turned to face Brock and the others. He seemed to have a question dancing in his eyes, and it was all too obvious what it was.

"Follow us, we know where he is," Tyler said.

Grom nodded once more, and just as quickly as they entered, they left once again.

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The group of what was now nine followed the path through the forest area and into the mountains. However, they were no longer running. Carol asked that for the sake of getting to know Razor that they walked instead. So the nine calmly walked down the trail, enjoying the scenery. Razor was walking right next to Carol as she talked to him and told him some of her stories. Razor took particular interest to the story about how Carol lived in the park for around three years.

Everyone else was admiring the large variety of trees and other plant life along the path. Delia especially enjoyed looking at the flowers and other colorful plants, recognizing most of them and taking the liberty of pointing out the name of each.

"OK, that one there is another tulip," she said, pointing at a yellow flower on the ground, "and there's a white rosebush…"

"And there goes my enjoyment of this walk," Tyler whispered to Brock, mocking Delia by pretending to be pointing out another flower. Brock laughed.

"Well, if you don't like it, then just ignore me," Delia said, never looking back at either of the two.

"How did she hear that?" Tyler whispered.

"It's called years of practice with a son," Delia said, still concentrating on the trail.

Misty was currently feeding Megumi and gently rocking her. Raidon was following behind her talking with Grom. They decided that knowing all of the different types of flowers that grew along the trail wasn't very important.

Lucky, however, didn't have that option. He was stuck in Delia's purse listening to her blabber on and on about the flowers. Poor, poor him.

They finally came across the intersection in the trail that led into the mountain trail. It wasn't much of a trail, more of a flat path weaving through the multiple peaks and valleys. The group turned down the trail and followed it all the way down. The only change in the group was the fact that Delia stopped talking about things along the trail.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," Tyler whispered to Brock.

"I'm going to ignore that rude comment," Delia said, still never looking back.

"How?" Tyler yelled out. "How can you do that!?"

"I already told you, years of practice with Ash."

Tyler sighed and returned to walking. Brock shook his head, laughing to himself at Tyler's frustration.

The journey through the mountains took only a few minutes. Grom looked at the mountains in amazement. He felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him as he remembered his old home when he was just a child.

They quickly found the door that led out of the room and walked through it. The mountains immediately dissolved into the plain white hallways of the hospital and the dirt path into clean tiles.

Of course, it wasn't too hard to figure out where Ash was being held. Just look for the huge conglomeration of doctors and nurses. They were rushing around like bees in a hive, going in and out of one of two rooms. One belonged to Giovanni, according to the label next to the door. The other room had no visible label, but the group knew who was in it without needing one.

Many of the doctors and nurses ignored their presence; many just looked up, saw them, and walked past. Only one doctor actually approached them. He was short and stocky, but despite the fact that it was near four in the mourning, he seemed very cheery.

"Hello," he said, "you must be the four that were found in the warehouse."

"Yeah, that's us," Misty said.

"And this must be the Tyranitar that was found with you," he stated. Grom nodded.

"Well, it's nice to see that you all are feeling fine," said the doctor. "And you might be?" he added, looking at Delia.

"Oh, hello. I'm Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother," said Delia. "Nice to meet you."

The doctor shook Delia's outstretched hand. "Well, Mrs. Ketchum, it's nice to meet you too. My name is Richard Howle. But please, just call me Rick."

Everyone nodded and gave their individual introductions. Rick nodded to all of them and shook each of their hands.

"Now, I suppose that your all here to see Ash, right?" Rick asked.

"Yes, we are," Carol said, nodding and looking at the room where she figured Ash to be in.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but unfortunately, you can't."

"Why not?" everyone yelled.

"The truth is, we've made a discovery," Rick said. "Ash still hasn't shown any signs of movement or breathing, but it seems that a weak pulse has returned to his body."

"What!" shouted Misty.

"Yeah, that's right," said Rick. "Ash is showing signs of being alive."

"How what now?" Delia said. Tyler smirked, and Delia looked back at him with a scolding face. His smirk was wiped away in an instant.

"Ash was previously showing signs of both being in a coma and being dead. He wasn't breathing, wasn't moving, and had no pulse. But his pupils dilated like normal, his skin still had color in it, and he had no signs of cuts or wounds," Rick explained.

"Right," Brock said.

"Well, just a few minutes ago, we discovered that Ash had a very weak pulse that had remained fairly constant for the past few minutes. With this development, we believe that he might actually just be in a coma," Rick finished.

"Really?" Misty said, looking up suddenly. Megumi cried happily at the idea of her daddy living. Raidon and Delia had a look of surprise mixed with extreme happiness on their faces. So did pretty much everyone else, including Razor, who only barely knew Ash.

"Yes, really," Rick said. "That's why it's so crazy around here right now. And why we can't let you see Ash. All of the doctors here are super busy trying to figure out how to get Ash out of this coma that he's in."

"I see," Delia said.

"Don't worry, you can stay here and whenever we can find the time to let you see him, we will tell you right away," Rick promised.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Misty said, still extremely happy.

"It's no trouble at all, miss," Rick said. "Just follow me to the waiting room."

The group nodded, and Rick led them down the hallway.

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He watched the group being led down the hallway and out of the room. He wished with all of his heart that he could walk up to them, and he thought back to the first voice he heard while he was in that strange place. It had told him to go back and continue life as it used to be. His voice had sounded so strange, like it was hypnotizing him.

But then he remembered the second voice that had forced the first away. It was sweet and kind, and it sounded as if it really cared for him. It told him that he couldn't go back just yet. It had told him that he had something to do first.

And that's the voice that he obeyed. He turned away from the group and walked the other way. It was lucky that everyone else was busy with the emergency in the ER. Nobody saw him as he left.

He navigated the halls, moving past nurses and Pokemon alike. At one point, he saw a Nurse Joy leading one Tyranitar and one Larvitar down the hallway.

He finally made it to one of the back exits. He managed to push it open and walk out into the night. He quickly found the north exit to the city and made his way out. As he walked down the path that led towards Ecruteak City.

Whoever that voice was, it said that it needed help. He needed to get to the Burned Tower to free it, whatever that meant. But he knew that this was real, and it needed help.

He looked up and out towards the route. It would be a long walk, but he knew he had to go. If he ever wanted to get back to the way things were, he had to.

He shook his head, freeing his mind of these thoughts. He walked forward on his tiny Larvitar legs. With these short limbs it would take him forever. But he was determined to get this done. Which was no different than normal, since this _is_ Ash that we're talking about.

End of Part Sixteen

End of Book One

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End file.
